By Eloisa Perez

Patterson High School has a program called Grant A Wish, where teachers sell merchandise and hold social events to make money to buy some things they need for their classes.

“I started the group because I was already running some grants for different things I needed and some one told me to start a group”, explained Mrs. Kelly Hope, one of the founders of the program.

Teachers who are involved in the program include Ms. Brett, Mrs. Hope, Mr. Frederick, Mrs. Stiles, Ms. Williams, Ms. Avellaneda, Mrs. Blankenfeld, and Ms. Mahoney. All of these teachers are glad that Mrs. Hope started the program, because every year the budget gets smaller and smaller and Mr. Benton has to make the hardest choices around February when it is budget time; for example: either to hire a science teacher or pay for something else.

Mrs. Hope described the process to apply for Grant A Wish money. “Teachers would fill out a form which has basic questions like how much money you need and how will it benefit your students. Then they will give the form to me or one of the other teachers in the program. Then we have a meeting on whether we should give them the money or not.”

If you would like to join the Grant A Wish committee, you would have to be 22 or older, but if you are not old enough to join, you can tell your parents or other people you know who are 22 and up. What younger people can do is buy tickets, promote or donate to help out with the program.