Every December, Lane’s auditorium is filled with hundreds of excited faces waiting to watch the Chorus’s winter concert. The dark stage is illuminated by candles and Christmas lights, while girls and boys dressed in black fill the stage, singing songs like “O Holy Night” and “12 Days of Christmas.”

This year, the choir program was able to buy some new decorations thanks to Limeades for Learning, a free program that donates money to public school teachers.

“You vote on projects that your teachers make,” Victoria Kassis, Div. 073, said. “When it’s voting season, we vote in class every day. Then, when the contest is over, Limeades for Learning chooses the projects with the most votes, and that’s who gets funded.”

Making an account on LimeadesforLearning.com is free, and anyone who signs up can vote everyday, and can even get extra votes if they share their votes on social media.

According to their website, Limeades for Learning has been supporting public school teachers and their students since 2009. In partnership with DonorsChoose.org, the marketing campaign has funded more than 26,509 classroom projects by providing learning materials and resources requested by teachers.

“We’ve gotten highlighters for kids, we’ve gotten snacks for kids. Anything that’ll help them focus in class,” chorus teacher Mr. Mark Carrera said. “If you have an idea, and you can find it on Amazon.com, then you can write a grant for it.”

Projects on limeadesforlearning.com can benefit anyone from pre-K to high school and can be everything from books to green screens.

In past years, the choir program used the funds for banners and invitations. This year, they used the funds for icicle lights and two 12-foot tall Christmas trees to decorate the auditorium.

“Limeades for Learning is super fun and fresh,” Maeve Sheedy Div. 065, said. “I love voting. It’s really easy and helps the choir a lot.”

In 2016, SONIC, the fast food chain that funds Limeades for Learning, pledged to put $15 million into public school classrooms by 2021. They donate to public school teacher projects three times throughout the school year: during the Fall Voting campaign, through special funding events in the winter and spring, and during Teacher Appreciation Month in May. The Lane Chorus participates in the Fall Voting Campaign and uses their winnings in the winter concerts.

Teachers submit their projects, SONIC members receive codes to help them vote, SONIC funds the projects with the most votes at the end of each week, and supplies are delivered to the winning teachers.

“Those trees were $600, and we would never spend budget money on that,” Carrera said. “But if someone wants to buy it for us on a grant, then absolutely.”

This past year, Lane’s chorus has won fourth in state and first in city. Free funding programs like Limeades for Learning and DonorsChoose.com make class easier for the Carreras and more fun for their students. They can spend their budget money on things like music and can use funding for other things to keep class interesting for students. For example, each year, the Carreras buy donuts for their classes once voting is over.

Limeades for Learning has projects up year round and people can always donate money. Simply enter the Projects section of LimeadesforLearning.com and press on the “Donate” button to make a contribution.

The chorus’s winter concert was held on Dec. 12, but they have annual concerts in the spring, and attend competitions throughout the year.