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Teachers and kids around the country are celebrating this $29 million act of generosity.

DonorsChoose.org is where teachers go to crowdfund classroom supplies and where awesomely empathetic people go to support them.

It's an absolutely fantastic charity and has helped tens of millions of students since its founding in 2000. Current projects on the site include a teacher raising money to buy classroom laptops for students in Worcester, Massachusetts, a push to buy bean bag chairs for a class in Section, Alabama, and more than 22,000 other campaigns.

For one brief moment in late March, there was nothing on the website. Every single campaign was paid for. What seemed like a glitch turned out to be something much better.


Ripple, a cryptocurrency payments company, donated $29 million, fulfilling every active campaign on the site.

"Late Show" host Stephen Colbert announced the donation on air. A big supporter of DonorsChoose, in 2015, Colbert paid off every campaign in his home state of South Carolina, an $800,000 donation. Ripple's $29-million act of generosity took care of more than 35,647 funding requests.

DonorsChoose founder Charles Best posted a video with Ripple senior vice president of marketing Monica Long, giving some more info on how the donation went down.

#BestSchoolDay 2018: Every Project Funded!

We can’t believe that just happened. With the largest single donation in our history, Ripple just funded EVERY SINGLE CLASSROOM PROJECT on DonorsChoose.org.THANK YOU to Ripple for making it the #BestSchoolDay for 28,000 teachers and over a million students!

Posted by DonorsChoose.org on Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Don't take it from them though. Why not hear directly from some of the teachers whose projects were funded?

Using the hashtag #BestSchoolDay, teachers across the country posted heartwarming videos and notes on social media. Some were on the verge of tears as they posted their videos, and others showed photos of the students who would be helped. There was just a lot of gratitude to go around.

Now imagine what it'd be like if every day was a #BestSchoolDay? Believe it or not, we can make that happen, and here's how.

Again, DonorsChoose is a wonderful organization that does important work in the world — but how messed up is it that teachers are in a position where they need to count on the kindness of strangers to be able to give their students the best education possible? Teachers are real-life heroes, and their time would almost certainly be better spent developing lesson plans and building up new generations instead of trying to find creative ways to supplement their classrooms' shoestring budgets.

In several states across the country, teachers are rising up to demand better wages and working conditions — and it's in everyone's best interest to ensure they get it. At the start of April, teachers in Kentucky marched on the state capitol building to call on Gov. Matt Bevin to veto an overhaul of their pension plan. Oklahoma and West Virginia teachers recently walked off the job for better pay and funding.

Kentucky public school teachers outside the state capitol on April 2, 2018, calling on Gov. Matt Bevin to veto a bill that would gut their pension plan. Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images.

We have the power to fix this by electing politicians, especially at the state and local levels, who pledge to fund schools and take care of our teachers.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, roughly 90 cents out of every dollar spent on education comes from sources other than the federal government. That means that if you want to change things like teacher pay or school funding, the best place to get started is at the state and local level. We owe it to our teachers and their students to create the best learning environment possible, so let's elect officials willing to give them what they need.

People rallying outside the Oklahoma state capitol for increases in pay and school funding. Photo by J. Pat Carter/Getty Images.

Until then, we can all be thankful that groups like DonorsChoose exist to help bridge the funding gap.

Angelina Jordan blew everyone away with her version of 'Bohemian Rhapsody."


At Upworthy, we've shared a lot of memorable "America's Got Talent" auditions, from physics-defying dance performances to jaw-dropping magic acts to heart-wrenching singer-songwriter stories. Now we're adding Angelina Jordan's "AGT: The Champions" audition to the list because wow.

Jordan came to "AGT: The Champions" in 2020 as the winner of Norway's Got Talent, which she won in 2014 at the mere age of 7 with her impressive ability to seemingly channel Billie Holiday. For the 2020 audition, she sang Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," but a version that no one had ever heard before.

With just her Amy Winehouse-ish voice, a guitar and a piano, Jordan brought the fan-favorite Queen anthem down to a smooth, melancholy ballad that's simply riveting to listen to.

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After Elmo's 'trauma dump' check-in, 'Sesame Street' goes all-in on mental health

Their first PSA offers a simple strategy for managing big feelings.

The Sesame Street gang is here for kids' mental well-being.

Remember when Elmo broke everyone simply by asking how people were doing on X? The viral check-in prompted a flood of responses in which people poured their hearts out onto the beloved Sesame Street character, and the wave of woes was so great all the other Sesame Street friends chimed in with their own words of support.

There's a reason Elmo's check-in hit people so hard. There's something viscerally comforting in the familiar faces and voices of our favorite childhood characters. Over 50-plus years creating high-quality shows for kids, Sesame Workshop has gained and retained people's trust and confidence, so engaging with Sesame Street characters feels safe and cathartic.

The folks behind Sesame Street have always incorporated kids' feelings and emotions into it educational programming, but a new initiative is taking a direct approach to mental health awareness. Teaming up with Huntsman Mental Health Institute, Sesame Workshop and the Ad Council have launched the "Love, Your Mind" campaign with a kid-friendly PSA.

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Dog turns down his owner's pets and the internet is laughing.


Sometimes we're not in the mood to be touched, and the same goes for our pets. While cats are notorious for snubbing humans who dare to touch them without explicit affirmative consent for exactly 3.5 pets, dogs are different. Dogs like to get head scratches, butt pats and for some reason slapped on the ribs somewhat aggressively. I don't know why dog owners do the last one but I've seen it enough to think it's a thing that dogs enjoy.

The point is dogs generally want you to pet them as often as humanly possible and until it feels like your arms are going to fall off. They try to climb up on your lap because being as close to your cornea as their snouts will allow is comforting to them. But apparently, dogs also get into moods where they don't want to be touched by their humans.

Weird, right? A chocolate lab on TikTok is simply not in the mood for pets and his reaction to his owner attempting to pet him has commenters in stitches.

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Can we bring back some 50s fridge features, please?

There are very few things that would make people nostalgic for the 1950s. Sure, they had cool cars and pearl necklaces were a staple, but that time frame had its fair share of problems, even if "Grease" made it look dreamy. Whether you believe your life would've been way more interesting if you were Danny Zuko or not, most would agree their technology was...lacking.

All eras are "advanced" for their time, but imagine being dropped off in the 50s as someone from the year 2023. A recent post by Historic Vids on Twitter of a 1956 commercial advertising a refrigerator, however, has some people thinking that when it came to fridges, maybe they were living in the year 2056. I don't typically swoon over appliances, yet this one has me wondering where I can purchase a refrigerator like this.

Of course, there's no fancy touch screen that tells you the weather and asks how you'd like your ice cubed. It's got more important features that are actually practical.

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via Pixabay

A middle-aged woman holding a baby.

A story that recently went viral on Reddit’s AITA forum asks an important question: What is a parent’s role in taking care of their grandchildren? The story is even further complicated because the woman at the center of the controversy is a stepparent.

The woman, 38, met her husband Sam, 47, ten years ago, when his daughter, Leah, 25, was 15. Five years ago, the couple got married after Leah had moved out to go to college.

Leah’s mom passed away when she was 10.

Last year, Leah became pregnant, and she wanted to keep the baby, but her boyfriend didn’t. After the disagreement, the boyfriend broke up with her. This forced Leah to move back home because she couldn’t afford to be a single parent and live alone on a teacher’s salary.

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Health

We asked people what they really enjoy that others can't understand. One answer dominated.

Interestingly, research shows that these people are particularly unlikely to be neurotic.

Canva

Some people really enjoy being alone.

We recently asked our Upworthy audience on Facebook, "What's something that you really enjoy that other people can't seem to understand?" and over 1,700 people weighed in. Some people shared things like housework, cleaning and laundry, which a lot of people see as chores. Others shared different puzzles or forms of art they like doing, and still others shared things like long car rides or grocery shopping.

But one answer dominated the list of responses. It came in various wordings, but by far the most common answer to the question was "silent solitude." Here are a few examples:

"Feeling perfectly content, when I’m all alone."

"Being home. Alone. In silence."

"That I enjoy being alone and my soul is at peace in the silence. I don't need to be around others to feel content, and it takes me days to recharge from being overstimulated after having an eventful day surrounded by others."

"Enjoying your own company. Being alone isn’t isolating oneself. It’s intentional peace and healthy… especially for deep feelers/thinkers."

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