Students gasped and squealed in delight Wednesday as Council Member Eric Dinowitz (D-11) revealed a giant check in the amount of $100,000 addressed to a Wakefield school, captured in a video posted to the council member’s Instagram account.
The funds will help the Matilda Avenue School, a K-5 public school, purchase technology like iPads for students, a cart to hold laptops used for testing, and upgraded tech for teachers to use in classroom instruction, the school’s principal, Maria Cioffi said in the video.
“As a former educator, I know firsthand the power of technology in the classroom,” said Council Member Dinowitz in a statement following the event. “With this $100,000 investment, we are ensuring that students at the Matilda School have the tools they need to thrive in a 21st century learning environment.”
As the eight students gathered around Dinowitz behind the large ceremonial check for a group photo the council member asked, “who wants to keep the check?”
Several hands shot up in unison and the students answered in a chorus of “me!”
Students from the Wakefield school also had the opportunity to pitch their representative asking for funding for new water fountains they want to install in the school. Dinowitz told the students that new technology can help the students create more presentations to advocate for the things they need in the future.
While the check was already earmarked strictly for technology, Dinowitz promised his support for the student’s bid for a new water fountain, which he said first must be approved by the School Construction Authority (SCA). The principal and Dinowitz coached the students on the path forward toward getting new water fountains.
“I think our next steps are trying to figure out how we are going to get the SCA group to accept it,” Principal Cioffi told the students. “We may need to invite them to come in and do our pitch to them as well. We might need to do some research to figure out who it is and how we can get that to happen because we are not going to take ‘no’ for an answer.”
Council Member Dinowitz encouraged the students to continue to advocate for themselves and the students that will come after them.
“I think that’s another important thing about civics, and a thing that I think you articulated, or you said very well” Dinowitz said to the students about their pitch. “It’s not always about you. It’s about the future and what you are leaving behind.”
