All Together Now: The Piedmont Story

Out of 138 public school districts in Alabama, this one shouldn’t be near the top. Roughly seven in ten of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch. In most of the country, that number decides the outcome before a child ever walks through the door.

It didn’t here. This is the story of how.

Now think about your hometown.

Nothing that happened in Piedmont required money the district didn’t have or talent the rest of the country lacks. It required a group of adults deciding that young people were worth talking to — and then having something worth talking about.

The schools near you have the same teachers looking for a way in and the same students worth reaching. A lot of them have the same budget problem, too. That last part is the one an outsider can actually fix.

The Wisdom Harbour Educational Fund exists for exactly that. Held by a 501(c)(3) community foundation, gifts to the fund place Wisdom Harbour in the hands of every adult on a school campus — teachers, administrators, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians, coaches, and everyone else a student passes in a day — for a full school year.

One staff member is $87. A teacher’s seat reaches an entire classroom.

You can give to the fund and let it go toward the next school in line, or name a school you’d like to reach yourself.