Indianapolis Teacher Creates Fundraiser For Student Trip

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- An Indianapolis middle school teacher is giving her seventh graders something to look forward to, or what she's calling a "complete learning experience." Shawna Farmer tells Patch that 120 seventh grade students at John Marshall Middle School are reading "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle just around the time the book's feature film adaptation was released in movie theaters on March 9. However, Farmer says her students are unable to afford the cost of a field trip to see the film. That's why Farmer made it her mission to encourage the community in joining her to help these students connect literature with film, by raising money for a field trip to an AMC Theatres on March 19.

"The students dedication to reading this novel is beyond what I expected," Farmer said. "Many of them are using reading as an escape from personal challenges. These students deserve a complete learning experience."

Farmer said the book was selected by the school's English Language Arts Team (ELA), as she believed her students could relate to the stories main character, Meg.

Farmer said she came up with the idea to raise money for the trip because she wanted her students to have the same opportunities that students in other schools have.

To help make this happen, Farmer set up a YouCaring fundraising page with a goal to raise $800 dollars to fund the movie tickets, pizza and transportation.

In the last week, community members have donated over $1,000, surpassing the original goal.

"I honestly had no idea how I was going to complete the ambitious goal of raising the funds," Farmer said. "Students expressed interest in seeing the movie before they started reading the book."

According to Farmer, the reaction to her fundraising goal was better than she expected.

"My students learned that people care," Farmer said. "We've recently been focusing on acts of kindness. Before this fundraiser, many of my students were unable to express any accounts of kindness they've personally witnessed."

A number of people who donated posted encouraging comments and reactions to the fundraising effort on the YouCaring page, including Diana Clark, "Children are the portal to the future. We need for children to be a primary focus for good. Thank you for your caring."

Christi Townsend posted, "A Wrinkle In Time is a favorite of mine! Hope it inspires your students to a lifetime of reading!" A few others praised the students' work.

The $800 goal that was met will cover the cost of the movie for the students, as well as pizza for when they return to school afterwards, Farmer said.

As far as the remaining funds go, Farmer said if those who donated allow it, the group will select another fundraiser to donate to as they are also learning about the act of paying it forward. The other option, Farmer said, is to purchase a class set of the book "Wonder."

At the end of the day, Farmer's students are truly learning about kindness through the examples of others.

Farmer shared two specific reactions to the fundraiser's results - "That people are kind enough to donate their money to a good cause," and that "There are good people in this world."

For more information or to keep up with this fundraising effort, visit the John Marshall Middle School 7th Grade Movie Fund YouCaring page.

Photos by Shawna Farmer