Secular Scientists for Education

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I am writing to express my sincerest gratitude for generously funding my third grade class' microscopes for our science centers. As mentioned, our student population comes from various backgrounds, and levels of poverty with a high percentage of unemployment. I feel a huge responsibility to not only help my students succeed academically, but to also provide the skills and tools needed to accomplish their goals and to encourage their hopes and dreams of a bright future. Because I believe the STEM education program (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is the pathway to success in a globally competitive world, these microscopes will help nurture this program in our classroom so my students will be able to someday rise above the challenges they face in today's world.

Thank you so much for being a part of my students' academic success stories.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Kuhn

Thank you so much for your donation to our classroom. The microscopes you donated have made all the difference during our last units of study on mitosis and cancer. Having a brand new microscope that illuminates on a dark Northwest morning has allowed student to actually SEE slides and specimens!

Our school is made up of 78% free and reduced lunch and we are often lacking supplies for science labs, even though we are a newly appointed STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) school. Your gift has allowed our students to access the technology necessary to compete in today's economy and provided inspiration for our budding future scientists!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Berk

Thank you so much for your support to our classroom. The students were so excited to get the microscope, we now have enough for them to work in small groups of 2 or 3 to a microscope. They have enjoyed looking at their cells as well as any other prepared slides they can get their hands on. The fleas seem the be the favorite.

I truly cant thank you enough for supporting our class and science education. It so so wonderful to see students that are actively engaged in what they are doing, and better yet, to see students that want to learn more. I could not have done it without you. Thank you again.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Nilsen

It has been a very busy year this year. I apologize for my delay. My father became very ill in December and passed away April 30, 2012. His illness and death have kept me very busy outside of school.

The students and I got a chance to "explore" with our microscopes and slides. I challenged the students to bring in water from various places (dog dishes, livestock water, ponds, rivers, streams etc) and we prepared "wet mounts" to view under the microscope. The kids had fun collecting and bringing in the samples and my classroom was full of tiny living creatures for a few days. We saw many different organisms under the microscopes. The classroom microscope was much more detailed than the digital microscope. The digital microscope was more like a large magnifying glass than a microscope. We used that to look at the "prepared slides" like horse hair, fish scales, bird feathers, etc. The final day was a lot of fun as well. We took cheek samples from all of us including our principal and looked at our own cells under the microscope. They used a toothpick to scrape the cells and a blue dye to help the cells show up under the microscope. It was pretty cool to see these. I think the kids had fun exploring and were able to grasp how tiny some living things are. Thank you all so much for the supplies and experiences you provided for my students. I will post the pictures ASAP. The pictures were taken with a school camera and I will download them and post ASAP.Thank for your generosity and support!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Branan

I'm not sure I can adequately thank each of you for your help in funding our "Under the Microscope: Larger Than Life!" project. The Motic digital microscope and the Plants and Animals Microscope Slide set have been a fabulous edition to our cells unit. The materials have given my students the opportunity to put their text books down and interact with the microscopic world around them. It was exciting to see students come up to the screen to identify and describe various cellular structures of both plant and animal cells. After taking his turn choosing a slide and bringing it into focus on the screen, one of my students remarked, "I feel like a real scientist now!" For that moment alone, I thank you so much!

From a teacher's perspective, the microscope and software are great tools.  Having the ability to annotate and edit captured slide images and to record video has added another layer to my teaching. Our next step is learn slide preparation as we create slides from cheek scrapings and onion bulblets. Once students are proficient in slide preparation, I will set up an independent station that allows students to prepare slides with specimens that interest them.  I'm sure I'll see pieces of lunch coming back into the classroom along with flower petals and strands of hair.

My students are excited just thinking about the possibilities!  Thank you again for your generous support of education.

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With gratitude,

Mrs. Tanner

I cannot begin to thank you for the contribution that you have made to my class. The twist microscope is an easy "kid friendly" microscope. Before getting the microscope, I had many students that had never been able to see through a regular microscope.

The twist microscope allowed me to zoom in and focus very easily. Then I would project the image on the smart board. This allowed everyone to see. It also let me take still pictures. I had the students label the cells from pictures that we had taken in class. The microscope was sturdy enough to let the students use themselves. They loved to look at their fingers and see just how dirty they can be.

Again, I want to thank you. This has made my lessons more effective. I had 3 students that used it for their science project. My students thank you. ”

With gratitude,

Ms. Lowe

Thank you so much for your incredible gifts and helping to fund my classroom's project! I'm so excited to share the news with the students- that their project has been funded and that they will be receiving some new books to accompany the science curriculum. I also cannot wait to share the projects that the students will be able to create and complete with these new materials. Each year, when I read these two stories with the students, they quickly become their favorites. Thank you so much!!!”

With gratitude,

Ms. S.

Thank you for helping us purchase new microscopes for our classroom. It has been amazing to watch the students use the new equipment to get an up-close look at cells and various organisms. One of the most exciting days was the day students were able to actually see the stages of mitosis within a cell (which they had only previously seen in a book) for themselves. For many students this was an "ah-ha" moment in discovering that with the power of a microscope they could see the "unseen" world that functions in their very own bodies every second of every day.

The science department functions on a $2000 per year budget for all supplies and materials. I am sure you can imagine that that amount is nowhere near enough to cover the cost of new microscopes. So, without your help our students would still be stuck in the dark ages! Thank you again for bringing them further into the world of real science.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Hitchcock