I am running the Boston Marathon this year! As many of you know this will be my second marathon, but this year I decided to use my running to make a difference. I have teamed up with a few teachers at Brighton High to help raise money for the Boston Debate League (BDL).

The BDL is a non-profit organization that helps students achieve their academic goals. I chose to run for this organization because I see the benefits of their program everyday in the students I teach. The Boston Debate League encourages students to ask the all important question of "why", and then helps them create the tools to find the answer.

The BDL uses this fundraising campaign as their primary fundraising opportunity. The league runs 6 city-wide tournaments at local colleges including Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern, and needs money to rent the space, to help students with travel expenses, food and to hire judges for debates and support coaches.

The Boston Debate League has some impressive statistics that I have personally witnessed in my classroom:

Boston Debaters...

• Attend school more frequently
• Improve their GPAs by 10%
• Achieve a 25% increase in literacy scores compared to non-debaters
• African-American males who participate in Debate are 70% more likely to graduate high school than non-debaters with similar skills
• More than 75% of urban debate league participants eventually graduate from a 4 year college or university

I am running for my students. 26.2 here I come. Please help out and donate what you can.