The SchoolWorks Lab, Inc., a New York City-based non-profit education research organization, is seeking funding for an initiative called EduCrate – a  “school-in-a-box” program that will help communities in crisis across the world to quickly and easily supplement or restore K-12 education services. 

EduCrates are ready-to-use portable classrooms in shipping containers delivered anywhere in the world within three months of calling! Interruptions of children's education is unacceptable and we provide a timely solution that restores education hope.

For example, school shortages in Tanzania, hurricane-stricken Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, tsunami-afflicted South East Asia, and earthquake-damaged Pakistan all need fast and reliable restoration of essential services such as food, housing, and education. Additionally, remote rural communities here in the United States and in under-developed countries abroad need cost-effective methods for delivering basic education services.

CNN reports that 55 public schools are now open in New Orleans, with about 27,400 students, or less than half the pre-Katrina enrollment (Jan 24, 2007). Unfortunately, the schools are very run down with attendance ebbing and flowing like the tide. "We have got to make a difference in the lives of children who have survived the hurricane only to be slowly injured by the lack of resolve to provide hope through education," says educator Rob Southworth who has invented the EduCrate portable classroom. "We have to find the will power to provide more schools and teachers. EduCrate is uniquely positioned to help these survivors become children again."

EduCrate classrooms are made from recycled shipping containers, and they come complete with doors and windows, heating and air conditioning, chairs and tables, black or whiteboards, classroom supplies, and up to 25 backpacks that are filled with notebooks and other essential student school supplies (see Contents).  The EduCrate can be customized for use as a science lab or an art room, and an array of upgrade options are available, including installed restrooms, electric generators, and wireless computer networks.  We can even send support personnel (teachers and Professional Development staff) and replacement curriculum materials, if needed (see Options).

Our crisis management solutions are research-based (see  References), and they comply with the International Rescue Committee’s Minimum Standards for Education Emergencies (see Minimum Standards).  Most importantly, though, we are a mission-driven, caring organization whose primary concern is not turning a profit.  We want to get educationally displaced children back into safe, comfortable, and appropriate learning environments – as quickly as possible, and we are ready to partner with organizations around the world to accomplish this goal.