LITERACY SUPPORT

Teachers & Classrooms

We are committed to supporting teachers and classrooms in their efforts to improve literacy among their students. To do this, we provide a range of resources, including:

  • New books for classroom libraries

  • Book club journals

  • Comfortable reading nooks

  • Specialized seating

  • Technology enhancements such as iPads and listening devices

  • School supplies related to literacy projects

We believe that by empowering teachers with the tools they need, we can help create a positive and engaging learning environment for students, which can lead to increased literacy rates and overall success in school.

Support for Teachers and Classrooms

Free Author Visits

Invite author and literacy champion Alane Adams to your school for an energetic and enthusiastic talk about reading and storytelling.

Clear The List

Each year Rise Up sponsors classroom donations for hundreds of teachers heading back to school. For up-to-date information stay connected on our social media.

Book Club Journals

Request book club journals for The Red Sun and The Blue Witch, to enhance your students’ reading experience.

Thank You Notes

My students were so excited when the books you purchased began arriving! They were hopping in their seats; they were so excited. Our little class library tripled in size, making it easier for the students to check out more than one book. They also had more choices on what to read. I saw an increase in reading immediately.

My students are required to read 5 books per term in addition to our in-class novels. These books are perfect for that assignment. They are easy for the students to access, check out and return. This is important because our school library is only open 2.5 days per week. With these books in the class library, the students always have access to interesting novels.

Research has proven time and again that reading is one of the best ways to build vocabulary, improve writing skills, and build reading fluency. As my students read more often, I am already noticing improved performance during class. They are using the new words they learn in their writing and they are learning how to weave better stories of their own.

We thank you so much for donating to our class! I am so grateful that you chose us as the recipients for your donation!

With gratitude, Mrs. Hetland

I want to personally thank you all for your donations and support that you have given my classroom. It warms my heart to know that there are so many selfless people in this world. To know that education is not on the back burner to everyone is an amazing reminder. These materials that you have helped me get for my students will go to good use and they will be used for many years to come. I cannot express to you enough how truly blessed I am to be able to impact kids’ lives and you have helped it become an even better experience. Again, your generosity will not be forgotten.

With gratitude, Ms. Bostic

Thank you so much! So excited to receive those books and get them into the hands of these sweet kids.

Shannon Miller

Wow! Thank you so very much for sharing your passion of books and supporting literacy in our classroom. My students will be so thrilled to get some new books at the beginning of the school year. I’ll be sure to update you when they arrive with their personal responses!

Sunni Huff

The Rise Up Foundation is an outstanding organization. Thank you for helping to fund my project, and for your dedication to putting books in the hands of children!

Kathy Croghan Russo

I wish you all could have been in my classroom on the day our book order arrived. The kids were ogling, ooh-ing, aah-ing and giggling about the fresh, crisp, brand new books as I unpacked them from their boxes. One student actually exclaimed, “It’s just like Christmas morning!!” I have never seen middle school students bubble with so much excitement for school materials. They were thrilled. They waited in anticipation as the library committee cataloged and labeled all the books, and they literally sat on the edge of their seats waiting to be released to get the books they were pining for.

I describe this all to you to say that these captivating, high-interest books have helped my students to dive headfirst into novels that are the right kind of challenging. Right now, they are using these books every day in Reader’s Workshop to think about characters, particularly how characters respond to challenges they face, how supporting characters help readers understand more about the main character, and how characters respond differently to setting. The characters in these new books are vibrant, dynamic, and thoroughly interesting to my 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.

One of the big changes in schools right now is the shift to Common Core, and a main focus of the Common Core standards is that students can use evidence to support their claims. In order to practice this skill in their reading, students need to have books that make them think, question, and wonder. You helped us purchase exactly these kinds of books. Students are loving them–they can’t stop talking about them. Thank you for helping students to find joy in reading. You have make a huge impact in our classroom!!

With gratitude, Ms. Phirippidis

On a rainy Tuesday afternoon all of my students sat scattered about the classroom reading. Some were sitting at their desks, some in comfy chairs by the windows, and some lying down on our meeting area rug. No matter where they chose to sit that afternoon one thing was true for all students; they were all engrossed in their books.

All of the sudden we heard a knock on our classroom door and the maintenance man walked in carrying a box. One of my students spotted the “Donor’s Choose” return address label and asked, “Are these our new books?? Can I open them?!”.

“Sure!” I responded watching him eagerly rip open the taped box with his unsharpened pencil. Before I knew it all 20 of my students had gotten up from their reading spots and crowded around the box. There were “ooohhs” and “ahhhs” as each brand new book was pulled out of the box.

“I CALL THE DIVERGENT TRILOGY!” one student shouted.

“I WANT THE DARK IS RISING SERIES FIRST!” another student shrieks.

There is nothing better than seeing a child’s face light up with excitement when they are handed a new book. Thank you for spreading the joy of reading with my 8th grade students.

I believe that it takes a village to raise a child. Loving parents, caring teachers, and generous donors like you are helping to raise these children by empowering them with great literature. Thank you for giving the gift of literacy.

With gratitude, Mrs. Rennie

I just received the books you sent to my classroom. I was so excited to see that the books are current and relevant to young readers. Thank you again!

Kathy Croghan Russo

Thank you so much for your donation to help me get books to change the lives of my students. Also, thank you for the additional books that you sent to me. My students have already snatched some of them up to read. They are already changing lives.

Mr. Adams

Thanks for all you have been doing for kids all over. My students love to read. I’m so impressed by how much they love to read.

Valerie Vickery

Thank you Rise Up Foundation for helping us “Rock on!” Your very kind donation and commitment to supporting literacy will have an immediate impact on the lives of my students. Your donation of new books is an unexpected blessing we will most definitely put to good use. Your assistance means so much to me but even more to well over 180 students each year. Rise Up Foundation Rocks!

Tom Maryanne Tice

You have certainly made a difference in my autism classroom. Every day my students ask for the Pete the Cat and Elephant & Piggie books. Today during choice time 6 of the 10 students choose to read books instead of playing with toys. Thank you!

Susan Bomber

I’m so excited and I know my students will be too! Thank you, so very much!

Caitlin McCarthy

I’m one of those lucky teachers that received books from your foundation. I can’t wait to get them in the hands of my kids! It is incredible that there are foundations like this or there to support student literacy!

Jenny OC

Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting my DonorsChoose project and for surprise gifting my class new books. My students were beyond excited. Thank you.

Rebecca Cassidy