Jocelyn Lam, Arcadia 5th Grader, Donates $300 To Save Teacher Jobs

Alarmed to hear that state budget cuts were forcing teacher layoffs in her area, Arcadia, Calif. 5th grader Jocelyn Lam decided to donate her life's savings to help her school retain teachers.

Patch reports Lam handed over her entire $300 savings to Camino Grove Elementary School teacher Todd Weber. She also included a note expressing her support for her teachers and imploring district officials to use her donation to save jobs.

According to Patch Jocelyn's letter said,

Dear Super Indendant (sic) and Board Members,

Hi. My name is Jocelyn Lam. I've heard that 65 positions will be laid off and ten of them are from my school! This really breaks my heart. Those teachers had taught me a lot. They guided me to fifth grade. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here right now writing this letter. They changed my life.

WATCH:

Comments

[El Chingaso]

11:54 AM on 03/16/2011

That $300 will buy some superintendent and his secretary...a nice martini lunch.

[Jason Vineyard]

11:18 AM on 03/14/2011

if they accepted this money thats f*cked up

[Haastnooit]

04:06 PM on 03/14/2011

it's f*cked up period!

[Tom Iarossi]

01:15 AM on 03/14/2011

Say it, child! Shout it!

[Christopher Bowen]

05:09 PM on 03/13/2011

For all the constant talk about how difficult it is to fire bad teachers, the reality is that most families are happy with most of their teachers. Most teachers are passionate, driven professionals that treat the job like a calling. This kid gets it.

Chris Bowen
http://teacher2teacher.lacoe.edu/a-fresh-dreamer.aspx

[mlaiuppa]

01:36 AM on 03/15/2011

That's because the only bad teachers are in the mind of the right wing conservatives brainwashed by Faux. They're pushing the myth of all of these greedy bad teachers bankrupting the country because their ultimate goal is to destroy public education so they can privatize it all and get their hands on public education tax dollars for private for profit corporations.

Social Security is next. That's the last pot Wall Street hasn't been able to get it's hands on.

The Republican party is all about transferring wealth from the many to the few. Teachers stand in their way. They have to be vilified and destroyed.

This kid gets it because she is too young to be brainwashed by Faux.

[Christopher Bowen]

01:17 PM on 03/15/2011

You're dead on right. It's been about dismantling the New Deal and anything that looks like it, for a few decades now.

[BklynDame]

04:04 PM on 03/13/2011

That was so sweet and so generous!

[cmr86]

12:41 PM on 03/13/2011

This story is hella cute.

[indothinker]

10:44 PM on 03/12/2011

what a great kid!

[Wendy Dreeszen Wiese]

03:52 PM on 03/12/2011

This little girl is smarter and more generous then all of GOP who want to cut funding of education. Bless her heart.

[RCRod83]

06:48 PM on 03/12/2011

Oh please. You really believe she did this on her own?

[eceresa]

09:05 PM on 03/12/2011

No. It's pretty likely that her parents raised her better than the parents of GOP members, too.

[cmr86]

12:43 PM on 03/13/2011

Funny how you instantly assume that she couldn't have arrived at this conclusion by herself. Not all 5th graders are blisteringly ignorant.

Also, even if she was prodded or given a suggestion, it doesn't mean she had to carry it out.

Criticism fail.

[CindiT]

03:44 PM on 03/12/2011

What an amazing little girl! I'll bet her parents are amazing, too. It is heartening to see this and realize that someday, she will be an amazing adult.

[Vgman]

02:53 PM on 03/12/2011

My daughter is in elementary school and she adores her teachers. Too bad that admiration disappears as they get older. I guess that comes with just growing up.
Being a teacher myself, I now understand what my teachers were trying to do for me when I was in school. Yes, they did not do everything right, but they are human and with being human means not being perfect.
Too bad most people don't get to see the behind the scenes stuff done on a daily basis by those that educate (... and yes, I know the system has some "bad" teachers, but even the bad teachers make connections with some of the lost souls).

[CindiT]

03:42 PM on 03/12/2011

I really don't think that admiration does disappear! I still remember very clearly, the teachers who inspired me! I will never forget! I work in an elementary school now (not as a teacher) and I see what the teachers in my school do, every day! I have seen young lives changed for the better, over and over again.

With all the negative thing we are hearing about teachers, now, please know that teachers are still loved, I believe, by most of the public.

Fan #5 and faved! Keep up the good work!

[Vgman]

12:14 PM on 03/13/2011

Thank you. At the high school level, I do get a chance to see some of that 'admiration.' Parents do tell me and comment made let me know. I guess it is harder to see what the teenagers feel when they are caught up in their own little world. Growing up does mean a shift in thinking. The little ones gush admiration daily. Listening to my daughter gush about her teacher is satisfying on several levels. Thanks for your point of view.

[diamondeyes83]

12:11 PM on 03/12/2011

(sigh) Oh the innocence of childhood...how I miss it so...this girl is more compassionate than a lot of adults I know.