15th Anniversary Celebration for the Grammar Girl Podcast

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As another school year comes to an end, I'm joining many educators in reflecting on the ups and downs. Since this was my first year teaching high school, I was both excited and a bit nervous to teach a Shakespearean play for the first time. I hoped that using Gareth Hinds' graphic novel to supplement the original text would engage my ninth graders, especially the reluctant readers.

Thanks to your generous donations, we received the "Romeo and Juliet" graphic novel very quickly and students eagerly immersed themselves in it. Whether reading whole group, in small groups, or individually, students saw this iconic story come to life through the vivid illustrations paired with the abridged original text. Students stated that the pictures made it easier to remember which characters belonged to which family and understand what Verona looked like. Because Gareth Hinds chose to make his characters multi-racial, my students felt a personal connection to them. The graphic novel also helped launch insightful discussions about how Hinds' portrayal differed from Zeffirelli's movie version, and why the two artists would make the choices they did.

The "Romeo and Juliet" unit was certainly one of the highlights of the year, and I look forward to sharing the novels with more students next year. Students felt valued when they heard that people they didn't even know wanted to give them this rich learning experience. Thank you for making this possible.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Davison

We just wanted to say a huge thank to everyone that donated and shared our goal from our 2021-2022 Journalism & News program. We are so excited for all our students to experience this new equipment, specifically our photographers, videographers, journalists and podcasters. See us in action at dickinsonianrams.com.

"The podcast equipment has allowed us to feel more professional, we're able to create a legitimate atmosphere. We're taken more seriously and are able to produce better quality pieces," Podcaster and senior Salma Eljalil. "The vlog camera has amazing quality. With it I was able to experience the respect of a real vlogger. It has been very interesting and fun." Vlogger and senior Jocelyn Cooper.

We have become an important resource for our school and our school's yearbook program. We look forward to our contributions to our school life and environment.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Cardounell

Thank you so much for your generous donations. These classroom basics helped ensure that we had everything we needed this year. We go through a lot of tissues and hand sanitizer in the course of a year, but this year we had all that we needed.

Individually packaged snacks ensured that students who forgot to bring a snack would still have something to eat at snack time--which meant no students were hungry in the stretch between breakfast and lunch. It's hard to learn when you're hungry, so snacks are so important.

Thank you, again, for supporting my students.”

With gratitude,

Ms. D.

Thank you for helping provide the tools needed for Podcasting: The New Story Telling Project Based Learning unit. When the unit was introduced, students loved the fact that they are grading on talking, because they love to do that! During this unit, writing skills that students had been working on throughout the year were reinforced. Students learned new digital resources to help create their podcast and improved their social skills through the podcasts. This project definitely had an impact on students. Several students started asking for podcast recommendations and I overheard many talk about creating their own based on interest. This real-world application was a big hit. Thank you for being apart of it!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Burden

Thank you again for donating to my project. The students love the dry erase boards and the markers and erasers that came with them. We use them almost daily for math to practice math concepts that we are currently learning. They also use them with their turn and talk partner to practice the skill as well as independently to show their work.

Thank you also for the new Ramona Quimby books. They were greatly needed to replace some of the old and worn out versions that we had. We will be reading and enjoying this novel in the fourth quarter. We are also using the reading and math journals on a daily basis to practice reading comprehension and math skills across all the third grade standards.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Jamro

Your generous donation to our classroom is greatly appreciated! Having this variety of books available to my students has been wonderful!

These books are being used for independent reading, and with these selections the students can find one that interests them. With such a wide range, going from fantasy to books dealing with mental health, providing student choice has interested my typically less engaged readers. Ready Player One especially!

With this introduction to literature circles, I cannot wait to bring them in full force for next school year!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Dominguez

Thanks for your generous donations. My Journalism students now have tools to interview our school community. They can't wait for an opportunity to interview our community with the amazing microphones. They can also use the stationary microphones to practice interviewing each other. They are excited about this amazing opportunity!

When the packages arrived the students were excited to get our station up and running. They feverishly set about connecting all of the technology. The Podcast station is a big hit.

The students are in the process of scheduling appointments to interview clubs, students, and anyone in our community who would like to have their voices represented. You have made our dreams a reality and the students are forever grateful!”

With gratitude,

Ms. K.

Our weekly snack-time tradition has continued strong these past weeks because of your generosity. This past Wednesday, the week before a vacation when focus can be at a low point, it was clear that just an hour before lunch, our students needed something to fuel them through that last morning class. It was then that we reached for the snacks you donated.

It's easy to chalk students not focusing or being silly up to them not liking a lesson, or being sassy. In reality though, students want to do well, and they also want to be loved and respected. A bag of potato chips or a granola bar go a long way towards both. Like we've been doing and hope to continue doing for many weeks to come, the solution can often be as simple as sating an appetite and showing you care. It's a lesson I learned from my grandma Dotty a long time ago that sometimes you just need a knosh, and it's just as true today. Thank you for making it possible for us to serve our students in a way they need most. Please spread the word about our snack projects - we go through them quickly, and there's a lot more of the school year to go. Stay well and thank you!”

With gratitude,

Mr. Wolf

The laminating machine helps us a lot. We already numbered our desk with the laminated numbers on the paper. It's so clean and tidy. We also wanted to laminate our other output so we can keep them and share them to the next set of students.

My kids were really curious about the laminating machine and on how to operate it. They helped me in laminating the papers. They found it very exciting. They were asking how to turn it on and how to do it. It was just amazing!

We always do amazing things everyday. We are doing journals, grouping and individual activities. I want them to have something to be proud of themselves on how far they could do with the materials they have. I also want to share this to the next school year's class.

My kids are doing posters to thank you guys for being so generous and thoughtful. I uploaded pictures for you to see how grateful we are. Thank you so much for donating stuff to us. We are all happy and forever grateful. Continue to be a blessing!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Arancon