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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

The Vox Box

Charity-A-Day: Education

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As you may have seen in the Our Kids; Our Business section of today's Spokesman-Review,  kicking off another week of charity-focus here at the Vox Box! We've investigated a huge range of topics; everything from Health, Animal Shelters, Food Banks, and more. Get ready and geared up for week two of 'Charity-A-Day'!  Today we'll tackle a big one: Education! (Yeah...the mention of that whole 'school' things usually inspires some groans and whining, but hold on - this is the good stuff...)

"Start with Trust"
The Better Busines Bureau is making education their main business with the BBB Education Foundation.  Found in Eastern Washington, North Idaho, and Montana, the BBB works toward their goal to "promote and foster ethical relationships within our community" by inviting high school sophomores to discuss ethics and preparing our generation for what lies ahead. 

"...Raising a high bar for all students benefits all students."
That's the core belief of Seattle-based education charity, Alliance for Education.  Raising capital, creating challenging courses, and inspiring students within Washington, are just a few of the things Alliance does to "champion change and help drive effective strategies that will increase student achievement." The Alliance for Education also rewards teachers: Two scholarship-awards are given out to remarkable educators and one award is granted to a notable principal. You can help this unique charity by donation or by volunteering at their annual October fundraising-breakfast...(and yes - by volunteering you get part of the breakfast...yummm, helping students can be delicious!)

"...Prepare students from underserved communities for success in universities."
Accra, Mamprobi, Chorkor, and Dansoman: These are the areas of Ghana, West Africa that are being helped by the Darkwa Foundation.  With a branch in Bellevue, WA, Darkwa's goal is to promote education in nurseries, pre-school's, kindergartens, Middle schools, and primary school's in Ghana - thus limiting poverty. The charity accepts donations as well as 'In-Kind' gifts, such as text books, curriculum guides, computers, and toys all to "enable [the kids] to contribute to the development of their own country."



In 2006, then-editor Steve Smith of The Spokesman-Review had the idea of starting a publication for an often forgotten audience: teenagers. The Vox Box was a continuation of the Vox, an all-student staffed newspaper published by The Spokesman-Review. High school student journalists who staffed the Vox made all content decisions as they learn about the trade of journalism. This blog's mission was to give students an opportunity to publish their voices. The Vox Box and the Vox wrapped up in June 2009, but you can follow former staffers' new blog at http://voxxiez.blogspot.com.