Full STEAM Ahead

Last year, the Corre la Maratón Virtual United fundraised to provide over 150 teachers with flexible grants of $1,000 for STEAM school supplies. This collaboration between runners and United Way for Southeastern Michigan’s Youth Opportunity team has impacted over 19,000 children across our region.

The grant distribution is made possible by the well-established school partner network of our Youth Opportunity team. They maintain relationships to meet students’ needs with wrap-around supports, out-of-school time and tech hub funding, summer enrichment programs, My Home Library Book Fairs, literacy kits and supply-filled backpacks.

In 2026, runners aim to increase donations to support an additional 200 teachers with STEAM Classroom Materials Grants.

Read on for three reasons you should get involved, as told by awarded teachers:

1. PROTECTING TEACHER’S WALLETS

Many teachers don’t hesitate to reach into their own pockets when they see students in need. Fourth grade teacher Katlyn LeMere explains it’s a constant battle to replenish consumable items at Ferndale Upper Elementary School.

“So many kids come with nothing, so I provide all the notebooks, pencils, pencil cases, and everything else that they need to start their year,” said Katlyn. “There’s at least six kids every year that I give every single thing they need to be successful.

“Pencils and scissors always seem to disappear and when the paper runs out, you can’t reuse it.”

Since becoming a teacher, Katlyn estimates that she’s spent thousands on her students.

“I’ve been teaching 11 years and going out-of-pocket about three times a year; I probably spent a few thousand over the course of my career.”

Flexible funds allow teachers to fill the gaps in their classrooms without pulling from their paychecks. This meant a lot to Bill Albrecht, a ninth-grade science teacher at Mumford High School in Detroit.

“I come out of pocket monthly for my students, so a grant like this is enormous,” said Bill. “It helps students feel valued, and it was a really great boost to the year.”

2. INCREASING ATTENTION SPANS

STEAM materials provide hands-on learning that recapture the attention of students. At Ypsilanti Community High School, Abigail Woodman found new ways to keep her geometry students engaged.

“Kids are distracted with phones every 30 seconds, so if you’re not changing things up, they’ll get bored,” said Abigail, a ninth through 12th grade teacher. “One of the things I got was magnetic tiles, and it’s so funny because everybody thinks big kids don’t like to play with things— they do.”

With the right support, Abigail champions that “everyone is a math person”, and the new materials help her student feel more confident.

“Some other stuff I bought was posters and stickers saying, ‘You belong,’ and ‘You’re a mathematician,'” said Abigail. “It seems hokey, but you forget high school students are still children; they still like stickers and things like that.”

While competing for attention in a technological age, Michele Harris argues that teachers can’t win by sticking to traditional methods.

“This is our future; these are the students that are going to take care of me in my old age, and we want them to be involved and engaged in learning,” said Michele, fifth-grade teacher at Ferndale Upper Elementary School. “Unfortunately, a lot of teachers lack the materials so they go back to pencil and paper, which I think is deadly for kids.

“The opportunity to get supplies is super important to make sure the next generation is coming up smarter.”

3. GIVING STUDENTS EQUITABLE ACCESS

At Community High School in Ann Arbor, Jesse Richmond created an equitable learning environment with classroom supply kits including pencils, erasers, scientific calculators, rulers, protractors and triangle guides.

“The supplies help my students have equitable access to the material,” said Jesse, a geometry and precalculus teacher. “With this system, every student is guaranteed to have what they need to complete the activities in my class each day.”

Some teachers dared to imagine more and used the grant to elevate school-wide programs. Maisson Fennig set out to better the summer school program at Ferndale Upper Elementary.

“The grant is being used on a bunch of art and drawing supplies— not just for my classroom, for the entire summer school program to experience the arts as well,” said Maisson. “For the elementary summer school program, we get money per student that applies and that’s not always easy.

“In a low-income district, every piece of a dollar helps.”

Want to support STEAM Classroom Materials Grants? Join our 2026 Run United Virtual Marathon, o make a donation here!