Impact Alamance is proud to have partnered with the Alamance Community Foundation this past fall to contribute $45,000 in matching funds to the Alamance-Burlington School System’s DonorsChoose platform for the 2025-2026 school year. DonorsChoose is a crowdfunding platform in which folks can donate money toward classroom projects, empowering educators by expanding access to the resources they need to enhance student learning and outcomes. Our investment provides a 1-to-1 match for donations to ABSS classroom projects, doubling the impact of community gifts.
As of March 1, 2026, more than $43,000 of the $45,000 in matching funds have been allocated toward 131 classroom projects across 27 ABSS schools. These funds have helped address a wide range of needs, from books for literacy initiatives and materials for STEM programming to supplies for classroom pantries and other essential resource efforts.
For Meredith Ewbanks, an AIG teacher at South Graham Elementary, DonorsChoose has made it possible to bring engaging and challenging programming to the gifted students she serves in grades 2–5. One of the most transformative additions has been Beast Academy, a math curriculum designed specifically for advanced learners.
“It’s written and designed for gifted students to work on math skills in a more complex manner,” Meredith explained. “Instead of accelerating them through higher and higher content, it encourages them to go deeper with rich, complex problems.”
Student reception has been overwhelmingly positive. Meredith shared that one group of second graders has become especially enthusiastic: “They’ve absolutely fallen in love with it and use it all the time. Some of them are already working on fourth- and fifth‑grade math content as second graders.”
In addition to Beast Academy, DonorsChoose has enabled Meredith to bring Project Lead The Way (PLTW) to life for her students. PLTW is a hands‑on STEM and CTE program that blends science, language arts, and math while introducing students to engineering design skills and real‑world problem‑solving. Meredith received a PLTW grant in May 2025 that covered curriculum access and training, but it did not include funding for the materials needed to fully implement the program.
To make PLTW meaningful and sustainable, she needed a wide range of supplies—everything from basic crafting materials for early prototyping to introductory robotics kits and engineering tools. These items weren’t possible within the existing school budget, making DonorsChoose the primary pathway for securing what her students needed.
“Just simply having those materials that otherwise wouldn’t be available has been huge,” Meredith said. “It’s allowed me to implement this curriculum to the fullest extent.”
At Southern Alamance High School, DonorsChoose has enabled English teacher Hannah Graham to transform her classroom into a space where students feel seen, safe, and cared for. As a first‑year teacher, Hannah was deeply inspired during by Chanel Jones—the 2025 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Piedmont‑Triad Region Teacher of the Year—who shared about her school-based laundry service, “Fresh Start” during Hannah’s Beginning Teacher Orientation
Motivated by that example, Hannah set out to create something similar for her own students. That vision became her “Fresh Start, Bright Future” DonorsChoose project—a classroom supply closet providing students with unrestricted, judgment‑free access to essential hygiene products, along with snacks and other food items.
“There are kids whose biggest stressor is not, ‘Am I going to get an A on this test?’” Hannah said. “It’s, ‘Where am I going to sleep tonight?’ And whatever I can do to help bridge that gap, I’m going to do it to the best of my ability.”
Hannah’s pantry offers everything from socks, lotion, toothbrushes, and mouthwash to edge control, deodorant, hair ties, chapstick, everyday snacks, and canned food. Her goal is to ensure students feel comfortable taking whatever they need—freely and without fear of judgment or scrutiny.
“I try not to pay too close attention to who’s taking from it,” Hannah explained. “I just want them to take it. I don’t need to know why they need it, or if they need it, or anything like that.”
The pantry has been a hit amongst students, with mouthwash, deodorant, and hairbrushes emerging as some of the most popular items. It’s also had a huge impact on student experience. Hannah recalls one student in particular who demonstrated just how meaningful the pantry could be. The student was new to the school and still finding her footing. Before she left for lunch on her first day, Hannah gently let her know that the classroom pantry was available if she needed anything. After scanning the shelves, the student hesitated before asking whether she could take some edge control.
“Of course,” Hannah told her.
The impact was immediate. “I immediately saw this change in her confidence,” Hannah said. “And she used it throughout the rest of the semester.”
For Hannah, moments like this underscore why having a judgment‑free resource within her classroom matters. The right item at the right time can help a student feel more comfortable, more themselves, and more ready to learn.
“I think it has been really helpful just to have something that shows them that I’m willing to put in that extra effort for them,” Hannah said. “So they are willing to put in a little bit of extra effort in the classroom.”
