Resource Area for Teaching

Resource Area For Teaching (RAFT) is an innovative nonprofit (501c3) that has generated interest from government, academics and media in pursuing an alternative approach to education. It has been the subject of studies from the Stanford University School of Business, KPMG and Deloitte. It also partners with the San Francisco Exploratorium in developing hands-on demonstrations and activities. While the Exploratorium tends to focus on Science-related activities, RAFT keeps its focus on classroom pursuits of a wider subject area, including Science, Mathematics, Art, and Literature.

The basic premise of RAFT rests on three principal social and pedagogical themes:
* Many children learn best through the exercise of tactile and kinesthetic senses that are seldom exploited in traditional classroom settings with their emphasis on auditory and visual learning.
* Almost all educational institutions in the U.S. are underfunded with regard to materials for the classroom (also known as "manipulatives"), funding for which is often provided by the teacher at his or her own expense.
* Materials for classroom learning are often available in industrial and commercial discards, overruns, and restocks, which businesses will gladly re-purpose to aid education.

RAFT is located in San Jose and Sacramento, California. The RAFT programs serve 10,000 teacher members at the two sites. The organization operates on a $3 million annual budget used to operate programs and subsidize material purchases and teacher-training workshops. Funding is provided by a mix of Foundation, Corporate and personal donations.

The operation includes several divisions:
* Logistics takes responsibility for material acquisition, warehousing and sorting. Most material donations arrive without solicitation, and are picked up by RAFT trucks or delivered to one of the sites. Material sorting is a labor-intensive activity staffed almost entirely by corporate and individual volunteers.
* The Education Department is responsible for developing classroom activities that make use of the available materials. This group consists of professional educators who:
** Schedule and staff workshops,
** Create Idea Sheets posted on the [http://www.raft.net?pg=ideas RAFT web site] , and
** Design classroom kits (assembled by volunteers) for state-standard aligned activities.
* Member Services ensures that RAFT identifies its clients as legitimate educators and non-profit employees and volunteers, provides information on programs to this group, and reaches out to the wider education community.

Founding

Founded in 1994 by Mary Simon.

References

* Current information on the organization is available at [http://www.raft.net RAFT website] .
* Industrial and commercial sources account for the majority of our waste stream. In California, each employee produces four times as much waste as each individual. [http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/LGCentral/WasteStream/]
* Information on the role of manipulatives in Mathematics Education is offered by National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [http://http://www.nctm.org/2007_11nb_intervention.aspx] , and this Education Forum Paper [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4013/is_200110/ai_n8975782]
* Information on teacher out-of-pocket spending on classroom supplies can be found in this research article: [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3673/is_199501/ai_n8722941] . An in-depth analysis of the financial situation for teachers is investigated in Brian Crosby's "$100,000 Teacher" [http://books.google.com/books?id=uU8Bs604UYIC]
* An article on RAFT's role in waste stream diversion appeared in CalMax [http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/CALmax/Guest/2003/Fall.htm]
* The city of San Jose describes RAFT's role [http://www.sanjoseca.gov/esd/gogreen/RecyclingSuppliesProcess.asp] .
* Charity Navigator rates nonprofits on a number of financial criteria: [http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=8399] .
* Teacher reviews of RAFT on Yelp: [http://www.yelp.com/biz/raft-resource-area-for-teachers-san-jose#hrid:nU8YJTDdcb_RW1vxslE_2w/query:raft] .