The first day of school is just a few weeks away and teachers in and around Great Falls are pouring their own money into school supplies for students who can’t afford it or items to help their students go the extra mile.

A few Great Falls Public Schools teachers are using a donation website to help fund some of those items they deem necessary for their classroom.

The site, www.donorschoose.org, is for teachers and allows them to request donations for their classrooms.

The Donors Choose staff vets all of the donation requests, purchase the items for fully funded requests and then ships the items directly to verified schools.

One of those teachers is Nikki Davalos.

“I think its a great way to support education in your community and you know it’s going where it should because the product is then purchased and sent directly to the school,” she told The Electric.

There are seven donation requests listed on the site for Great Falls teachers, but two of the teachers submitted two requests each. There are also projects from Wolf Point, Laurel, Belgrade, Lincoln, Helena and more.

“Every classroom is different and has diverse needs. With this donation site the teacher puts together a supply list and then outlines why and how they will use it with their students,” Davalos said. “By donating and helping any classroom you really are supporting our community’s children and I think that’s important.”

Those requests include timers for 5th graders at West Elementary preparing oratory speeches for the All City meet; STEM kits for students at West; and several teachers are requesting wobble chairs like these requested by Davalos.

In her request on Donors Choose, Davalos wrote that many of her 3rd grade students have behavioral issues and struggle to sit still.

“I have a high movement classroom and it is a must to include movement in our lessons. I prefer to find alternative ways of assisting students with success instead of constantly having behavioral action. These seats will help students who struggle with this,” she wrote.

Her donation request is $609 to cover the cost of six chairs at $79 each, plus associated fees. If the request is fully funded by Nov. 25, the chairs will be shipped to Davalos’ classroom.