NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Titans fans in Tennessee and all over have the opportunity to help increase learning opportunities for young students at an elementary school near LP Field.
Fans can show their support for the Pre-K blended classroom at Kirkpatrick Enhanced Option School by voting in the NFL PLAY 60 DonorsChoose.org Showdown.
Pre-K teacher Katie Elam submitted a proposal called "Character, Community, and Connections" to DonorsChoose.org. It was selected to represent the Titans in conjunction with the Week 6 Thursday Night Football contest between Tennessee and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Elam's proposal seeks materials that will emphasize character education lessons that reinforce the school's three rules: be respectful, be responsible, be safe.
"This project is about books for our classroom that will help us promote lessons of diversity and acceptance for kids of all different levels of ability," Elam said, "and also help us teach lots of lessons to drive home character and some ideas like friendship, acceptance and responsibility."
Voting opens Saturday and runs through 11:59 p.m. Thursday at www.NFLRush.com/choose. The rules allow an online vote to be cast every hour, and the proposal with the most votes will receive full funding (up to $1,000) from NFL PLAY 60. The proposal that has the second-most votes will receive half funding (up to $500).
Elam's blended classroom includes 4-year-old students of various development levels. Some students have developed typically when compared with peers but others have developmental delays or special needs. The students are already learning sign language to better communicate with one of their classmates.
"At 4-years-old, we're all very different and we're all learning lots of different lessons," Elam said. "So, while we may be on lots of different pages academically, at the end of the day, we're all still working on learning how to be a good friend and how to be a child of character."
In addition to the books, Elam would like to use the money for additional educational materials like puzzles, posters and stickers that can also be used to emphasize citizenship and encourage each student to embrace their classmates' diversity.
Sandra Moorman, principal of Kirkpatrick Enhanced Option School, said it is a great opportunity for the students, the school and the community it serves.
"Any type of additional resources that we can provide outside of school really makes a connection to our students that it's not just within this school, but in the community and neighborhood as well," Moorman said.
Elam and Moorman said they hope they receive a great deal of support from Titans fans for this proposal.
"If we have lots of support, it would be so exciting, not just for this project, but to send the message to our kids and to our school that they are so important and that they matter to the Titans community and the Tennessee community," Elam said.
