Adopt a Classroom Project

Adopt-A-Classroom Project

Palm Desert Soroptimists added sparkle to our adopted classroom by donating $50 gift cards to each student in the entire 3rd grade class of Sea View Elementary, Salton City. Teacher, Patsy Bauman, was gifted with $300 to purchase items to enhance distance learning. Ms. Bauman told us that “keeping 3rd graders engaged while distance learning can be very challenging”.

The Story

Becky Goebel

I was a guest in their virtual classroom the day before Christmas vacation, they sang “Here Comes Santa Claus” in Spanish and read the thank you letter they had written to our Club.

Some of the thank you comments:

“Thank you for making me feel important.”

“You are nice ladies to give us gifts.”

“You made me happy.”

The children were all on Ms. Bauman’s screen and I saw firsthand some of the challenges distance learning for 3rd graders presents. Keeping the children engaged was the biggest challenge as they are in noisy areas with people moving in and out of their space while class was in session. Ms. Bauman really works hard to keep them engaged by giving each child a Christmas name, Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, Dancer, etc. She wore a Christmas elf shirt, hat and slippers to keep them focused, repeating many times, “class, turn your camera on or turn your microphone on”. The class schedule was written on a white board behind her makeshift classroom and her laptop computer sat on a cardboard box on a small table with an office chair positioned to face a large patio door.

The teachers all deserve a medal of valor for teaching during the pandemic, as they are the frontline workers for education!

Salton City has an unemployment rate of 20.7%. The US average is 3.7%. The average income of a Salton City resident is $16,319 a year. The US average is $28,555 a year.

– The Median household income of a Salton City resident is $33,906 a year. The US average is $53,482 a year.