When my children were little, they attended an elementary school whose border straddled both sides of ‘the tracks’. Our school, on paper, had everything against us: we were under-enrolled, with low test scores, and over 70% of our students were on free or reduced lunch. Our budgets for P.E. and arts were already whittled down to nearly nothing, and our school was on the chopping block for closure. 

What we needed was money.  What we raised was awareness that local schools are the center of communities, and that saving them is crucial to everyone.

Over the years, everyone gave what they could and applied for every grant under the sun. We needed teacher assistance, and some (like me) strapped their brand new baby to their back and made photocopies all day so the teachers could spend more time in the classroom. We needed supplies, so we organized supply drives making sure every kid had a box of crayons and a notebook.  We needed fun, so parents and neighbors taught classes on everything from knitting and gold, to painting and classes on bugs. We held local rock concerts, raising $15,000 in one night. We held community garage sales, raising $5,000 in a weekend.

We found a way to let everyone give what they could – money, or expertise, or space, or simply the participation of their family in the events. 

10 years later that same school is a high-achieving school, and touted across the district as the example of what a school, and community, can do when they work towards common goal.  It is the center of the community, with amazing playgrounds and gardens the entire neighborhood uses, annual community events like the only local Halloween haunted house built for kids 12 and under, by kids 12 and under. Students of all racial, religious, and economic backgrounds attend and thrive in that school, and in that neighborhood.

Grants like Clorox’s Power A Bright Future do more than just provide playgrounds or science programs, they provide entire communities an opportunity to come together and work towards a common goal. And best of all, Power A Bright Future empowers kids to get actively involved in powering their own futures.

You, your friends, your neighbors, your local businesses, and your gramma can start voting for schools on Nov 12^th though the Power A Bright Future website, and by text message.

Teens 13 and up are empowered to vote through the site and via text message. They can also show their support on Instagram by tagging their photos #yolopabf to show how a grant would make a difference at their own school.

Find your favorite submissions and their text to vote code on www.powerabrightfuture.com. You can vote once online and once by text every day. Voting ends on December 19, 2012 and the winners will be announced early next year.

What could your school do with $25,000? $50,000? Tell us in the comments, and visit www.powerabrightfuture.com to learn more about how to brighten your kids, and their schools’ futures.

Shannon (or Mr Lady, as she’s known by online) is the mother of two sons and a daughter. Since January of 2005, she’s been writing about her experiences raising them, and reflections of her own life, on her parenting/memoir blog, Whiskey In My Sippy Cup.