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Great Falls, Montana ‘Desk of their Own’ program donates 100+ hand-crafted desks to remote learners

Desks Great Falls education

Good Samaritans are coming together help students better adjust to remote learning. Their mission: to give everyone a ‘desk of their own.’

Through time spent under quarantine this year we’ve learned how important a designated workspace can be, especially for students learning from home this year. People in Great Falls are hand- making and delivering over 100 wooded desks to provide some structure.

Gaines McFadden, a master woodworker, and many others use tools donated from Ace Hardware and Johnson/Madison to build 130 wood desks for students from Kindergarten through sixth grade. Donations fully funded this project, GFPS receiving donations from the Rotary Club of Great Falls and many local businesses. Each desk takes over two hours to make, and volunteers have spent close to 325 hours providing school-room to help remote learners. McFadden said he considered underprivileged children who might not have their own desk space to complete their work with pride, so he knew he had to use his skills and get to work.

Troy and his Mom plan to keep the desk in his room even when remote learning is over. Each one comes with a special plaque to commemorate this unique academic year forever. Desks are still being delivered to anyone who placed an order.

 

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How the digital divide leaves students behind, and what we should do to fix it

We should use those realities as a “north star” to build a new, inclusive education system. She said this means transforming public education into “a racially and socially just and equitable system that prepares every student — every one —to succeed in a diverse and independent world.”

 

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