'Calling All Teachers' campaign urges teachers to post projects

As schools begin classes once again, U.S. Cellular is looking to help Kansas teachers make classroom dreams a reality.

U.S. Cellular plans to kick off the school year in a big way with the return of Calling All Teachers, a campaign that donates $1 million to fund creative and impactful classroom projects submitted by public school teachers.

Through Sept. 15, teachers are invited to register on DonorsChoose.

org as a "U.S. Cellular Teacher" and post their requests to be considered for funding. According to a representative from U.S. Cellular, more than 3,600 teachers have signed up already.

This is the second year that U.S. Cellular has partnered with DonorsChoose.org. The philanthropic website helps public school teachers find money for all types of classroom projects ranging from math, science and history to special needs, health and fitness.

"Teachers make the request and we work hard to help their dreams come true," Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org, said. "When companies like U.S. Cellular get onboard, we're able to make an even greater impact in schools."

U.S. Cellular will announce the teachers whose projects are selected for funding in October.

"We're excited to see the variety of classroom requests that get posted on DonorsChoose.org," Dorsey Ragland, U.S. Cellular director of sales for Kansas, said. "Teachers across the nation are struggling to locate the resources they need to turn many enriching classroom projects into a reality. We believe that teachers and their students deserve our support."

Fort Scott Middle School participated in last year's Calling All Communities campaign, also sponsored by U.S. Cellular, in which they were competing against schools from across the country to be one of the ten school to receive $100,000. FSMS was not one of the 10, however according to the final top-100 list provided before the winners were announced, FSMS had advanced to 60th out of more than 4,000 schools.

To post a project for consideration, local teachers should visit www.donorschoose.org and register. After logging in, click the "update affiliations" link -- if creating a new account, this will be included in the registration process. Once registered, click on the box marked "U.S. Cellular Teacher" then click "Next" and follow the steps to return to the teacher acount. Next click on the "upload/change photo" button and upload a photo that reflects the classroom environment. Lastly on the "My Account" page, click the link titled "Create a Project."

Both a video guide and submission tutorial are on the website to provide assistance to users. For more information, visit uscellular.com/callingallteachers.