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Comedian Stephen Colbert announced Thursday that he would fund every existing grant request South Carolina public school teachers have made on the education crowdfunding website DonorsChoose.org.

Colbert made the announcement on a live video feed Thursday at a surprise event at Alexander Elementary School in Greenville.

Colbert partnered with The Morgridge Family Foundation 's Share Fair Nation and ScanSource, which is headquartered in Greenville, to fund nearly 1,000 projects for more than 800 teachers at over 375 schools, totaling $800,000.

Colbert, a South Carolina native and product of South Carolina's public schools, announced the funding at a conference in New York hosted by DonorsChoose.org, a crowdfunding non-profit where teachers create projects requesting materials and experiences their students need to learn, and donors support the projects that inspire them.

"Using the proceeds of the sale of my old set on The Colbert Report which we auctioned off, and with the generous matching funds from The Morgridge Family Foundation and ScanSource, DonorsChoose is going to flash-fund all 1,000 projects in South Carolina," Colbert said. "Enjoy your learning, South Carolina."

Damon Qualls, a teacher at Alexander Elementary School in Greenville, joined Colbert for the surprise announcement in New York. Qualls has had 126 projects funded on DonorsChoose.org, including five projects from today's announcement.

The event was attended by local and state school officials, including state schools Superintendent Molly Spearman.

"There are going to be some happy, happy teachers across the state," Spearman said. "This is Teacher Appreciation Week, so what a great way to say 'thank you teachers for what you're doing every day.'"

Grants will fund everything from new books to classroom supplies, school-branded clothing or professional development for teachers.

"I think it's generally extra things, but to be honest with you, in some situations it could be basic-type things that the students need where the district just hasn't been able to fund it," Spearman said.

"There's a great need out there and thankfully Stephen Colbert is from South Carolina," she said.

Alexander Elementary has been central to the promotion of DonorsChoose.org projects in South Carolina. The small, Title 1 school on Greenville's Westside surpassed $100,000 in grants funded earlier this year and now has received more than $125,000 for supplies and experiences through DonorsChoose, said Principal Sonya Campbell.

Hitting the $100,000 mark kicked off planning for Thursday's announcement, Campbell said.

Campbell asked each teacher at Alexander to write at least one grant request this year. Now every teacher has had a project funded, she said.

BDKJMU wrote:He did work hard to get rid of his southern accent which he was ashamed of, and despite being Irish, changed the pronunciation of his last name from Col'bert' to Col'bear' to sound sound French, as if French sounds more sophisticated...

Up until Stephen, the Colbert family, of both Irish or French nationality, said "Cole-bert."

In an interview with Charlie Rose, Colbert explained that he always wanted to make the change, and a conversation with an astronaut finally gave him the courage.

While flying to Northwestern University in Illinois, where he studied theater, Colbert already had the idea in his head. "I didn't know Chicago. Nobody knew me there. And I thought, 'Well, if I'm ever gonna do it, it's gonna be now,'" he told Rose.

That day, the airline bumped Colbert up to first class, where he ended up sitting next to an astronaut. Colbert thinks the astronaut's name was Corley, and he asked the man's opinion, still unsure whether to adopt the hard or soft "t."

"He goes, 'Well, I think you know,'" Colbert relayed, smiling widely.

Colbert's father always wanted to switch, too. But he "lacked the pretentious gene that I have said," Colbert said.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-colb ... 2WpI/quote" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]

Could you be anymore closed-minded and ignorant? Am I ashamed of my heritage because my last name is pronounced 3 ways and my family pronounces it the American way? Idiot.

You're only pissed because a liberal is doing a good thing in a Republican state.

CID1990 wrote:That's awesome.

Ibanez wrote:

BDKJMU wrote:He did work hard to get rid of his southern accent which he was ashamed of, and despite being Irish, changed the pronunciation of his last name from Col'bert' to Col'bear' to sound sound French, as if French sounds more sophisticated...

Wow you couldn't be more wrong. Just because you're from the south doesn't mean you have an accent. And you should google why he pronounces his name that way. He's so ashamed of his Irish and French ancestry...geez you're dumb.

Up until Stephen, the Colbert family, of both Irish or French nationality, said "Cole-bert."

In an interview with Charlie Rose, Colbert explained that he always wanted to make the change, and a conversation with an astronaut finally gave him the courage.

While flying to Northwestern University in Illinois, where he studied theater, Colbert already had the idea in his head. "I didn't know Chicago. Nobody knew me there. And I thought, 'Well, if I'm ever gonna do it, it's gonna be now,'" he told Rose.

That day, the airline bumped Colbert up to first class, where he ended up sitting next to an astronaut. Colbert thinks the astronaut's name was Corley, and he asked the man's opinion, still unsure whether to adopt the hard or soft "t."

"He goes, 'Well, I think you know,'" Colbert relayed, smiling widely.

Colbert's father always wanted to switch, too. But he "lacked the pretentious gene that I have said," Colbert said.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-colb ... 2WpI/quote" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]

Could you be anymore closed-minded and ignorant? Am I ashamed of my heritage because my last name is pronounced 3 ways and my family pronounces it the American way? Idiot.

You're only pissed because a liberal is doing a good thing in a Republican state.

BDKJMU wrote:

Ibanez wrote:
Wow you couldn't be more wrong. Just because you're from the south doesn't mean you have an accent. And you should google why he pronounces his name that way. He's so ashamed of his Irish and French ancestry...geez you're dumb.

"...his observation of negative stereotypes of Southerners led Colbert to train himself to suppress his Southern accent while he was still quite young. As a child, he observed that Southerners were often depicted as being less intelligent than other characters on scripted television; to avoid that stereotype, he taught himself to imitate the speech of American news anchors...."

"..All told, his heritage is 15/16ths Irish.."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And whatever dumbass..

CID1990 wrote:

BDKJMU wrote:

"...his observation of negative stereotypes of Southerners led Colbert to train himself to suppress his Southern accent while he was still quite young. As a child, he observed that Southerners were often depicted as being less intelligent than other characters on scripted television; to avoid that stereotype, he taught himself to imitate the speech of American news anchors...."

"..All told, his heritage is 15/16ths Irish.."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And whatever dumbass..

Its funny how observations of negative stereotypes were contributing factors in him changing his accent.

My observation of those stereotypes drove me in the opposite direction. Im proud of my twang.

AND, when I was a cop it was helpful to reinforce the stereotype of the dumb southern cop during investigations. It makes people overconfident and they think poorly supported lies will fool you.

BDKJMU wrote:

CID1990 wrote:
Its funny how observations of negative stereotypes were contributing factors in him changing his accent.

My observation of those stereotypes drove me in the opposite direction. Im proud of my twang.

AND, when I was a cop it was helpful to reinforce the stereotype of the dumb southern cop during investigations. It makes people overconfident and they think poorly supported lies will fool you.

Same here. 2 things that run me the wrong way:
-negative stereotypes about southern accents, and people from the south thinking they need to get rid of them. I've also proudly kept mine..
-The notion that French sounding is more sophisticated..

And kudos to Colbert for what he's doing. Should have included that in my 1st post..

kalm wrote:

BDKJMU wrote:
Same here. 2 things that run me the wrong way:
-negative stereotypes about southern accents, and people from the south thinking they need to get rid of them. I've also proudly kept mine..
-The notion that French sounding is more sophisticated..

And kudos to Colbert for what he's doing. Should have included that in my 1st post..

Given the fact he has made fun of the French pronunciation ("It's French, bitch"), I'm guessing you care about it much more than he.

BDKJMU wrote:

kalm wrote:
Given the fact he has made fun of the French pronunciation ("It's French, bitch"), I'm guessing you care about it much more than he.

Uh, no. I never watch him..

kalm wrote:

BDKJMU wrote:
Uh, no. I never watch him..

You should...for some help with context.

BDKJMU wrote:

kalm wrote:
You should...for some help with context.

BDKJMU wrote:

Ibanez wrote:
Wow you couldn't be more wrong. Just because you're from the south doesn't mean you have an accent. And you should google why he pronounces his name that way. He's so ashamed of his Irish and French ancestry...geez you're dumb.

"...his observation of negative stereotypes of Southerners led Colbert to train himself to suppress his Southern accent while he was still quite young. As a child, he observed that Southerners were often depicted as being less intelligent than other characters on scripted television; to avoid that stereotype, he taught himself to imitate the speech of American news anchors...."

"..All told, his heritage is 15/16ths Irish.."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And whatever dumbass..

BDKJMU wrote:

kalm wrote:
Given the fact he has made fun of the French pronunciation ("It's French, bitch"), I'm guessing you care about it much more than he.

Uh, no. I never watch him..

Ibanez wrote:

BDKJMU wrote:

"...his observation of negative stereotypes of Southerners led Colbert to train himself to suppress his Southern accent while he was still quite young. As a child, he observed that Southerners were often depicted as being less intelligent than other characters on scripted television; to avoid that stereotype, he taught himself to imitate the speech of American news anchors...."

"..All told, his heritage is 15/16ths Irish.."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And whatever dumbass..

1) I did the same thing, doesn't make me any less a southerner.
2) So, because only 1/16th of his heritage is French, he can't honor or celebrate it?

Do you read the **** you type before you hit 'submit'? Your assumption that he is ashamed is ridiculous and baseless.


And I'm the dumbass? You're still a moron.

Ibanez wrote:

BDKJMU wrote:
Uh, no. I never watch him..

You should. It'd help you not make baseless, observational and stereotypical comments. Admit it, you don't like him b/c he's a liberal.

BDKJMU wrote:

Ibanez wrote: You should. It'd help you not make baseless, observational and stereotypical comments. Admit it, you don't like him b/c he's a liberal.

You got me! I don't like liberals...the secrets out..

BDKJMU wrote:

Ibanez wrote:
1) I did the same thing, doesn't make me any less a southerner.
2) So, because only 1/16th of his heritage is French, he can't honor or celebrate it?

Do you read the **** you type before you hit 'submit'? Your assumption that he is ashamed is ridiculous and baseless.


And I'm the dumbass? You're still a moron.

1. Someone proud of being southern they wouldn't try to get rid of their southern accent..
2. My god you are dense.. And talk about bothering to read the **** you type before you hit 'submit'. Not even 1/16th of his heritage is French. Let me dumb it down for you since you're a little slow:
-15/16th Irish.
-1/16 German, English and anything else.
"....mother's ancestry was Irish, and his father's ancestry was mostly Irish, with some German and English. All told, his heritage is 15/16ths Irish..."
Reading is fundamental.. Nothing about French. Now maybe he's 1/32, or 1/64, or 1/128, or whatever, but changing his last name from to a French pronunciation is phony.

And whatever. You're the one who started the childish name calling on this thread...

BDKJMU wrote:

Ibanez wrote: You should. It'd help you not make baseless, observational and stereotypical comments. Admit it, you don't like him b/c he's a liberal.

You got me! I don't like liberals...the secrets out..

Ibanez wrote:

BDKJMU wrote:
You got me! I don't like liberals...the secrets out..

It was a never secret, shit for brains. You're one of these people( based on your posts) that harp on democrats for doing bad things or dumb things but rarely to never say a bad thing about republicans.

It's an observation based off your posting behavior.


Momma said never trust a guy that brings coffee to tailgate.

Ibanez wrote:

BDKJMU wrote:
1. Someone proud of being southern they wouldn't try to get rid of their southern accent..
2. My god you are dense.. And talk about bothering to read the **** you type before you hit 'submit'. Not even 1/16th of his heritage is French. Let me dumb it down for you since you're a little slow:
-15/16th Irish.
-1/16 German, English and anything else.
"....mother's ancestry was Irish, and his father's ancestry was mostly Irish, with some German and English. All told, his heritage is 15/16ths Irish..."
Reading is fundamental.. Nothing about French. Now maybe he's 1/32, or 1/64, or 1/128, or whatever, but changing his last name from to a French pronunciation is phony.

And whatever. You're the one who started the childish name calling on this thread...

You're so full of ****. I don't give a fat baby's dick about the precents- it isn't the point. You've missed the point.


And you are the one that posted an assault on him, based off what? Your close personal relationship with his family? Instead of congratulating him in his contribution to his home state, you try to say he isn't southern enough because he didn't want to be discriminated against based on an accent. Please, you're ridiculous.