You know what we love most about TXGU educators? Your hearts. It takes a lot of time and dedication to help lift kids out of a world of "managed" expectations and get them on the right track to a great future via their own minds and quality educational opportunities, and we appreciate you giving of yourself every day. But we understand—just because you're awesome at a job you're passionate about doesn't make it easy. Sometimes you need a kind of motivational booster shot (outside of the break-room coffeemaker). Luckily, we found just the ticket in a program that illustrates the kind of hard choices you may very well be saving your kids from having to make by encouraging them in their scholastic path. 

Developed for the charity Urban Ministries of Durham, Spent is a online game that's all about the difficult decisions a parent on an unexpectedly extreme budget has to make to keep their household together—facing challenges like navigating hours of public transport and putting an economical dinner on the table each night. As the game throws more unanticipated variables at you, keeping your head above water gets tough, and that's the whole point. Win or lose, the bright side is always there in that your TXGU'ers are being empowered to break through this kind of cycle. And the providers of that power are none other than you educators. If you hear a little buzz in your ear today, that's us applauding into a megaphone. You deserve it.