Past projects 7
Level The (Ultimate) Playing Field For My Athletes
Funded Oct 25, 2013In the movie, "The Field of Dreams" Kevin Costner's character famously says, "If you build it they will come." From the start of our ultimate program here in Chicago four years ago we've taken much of the same approach. When we started we had no students who had ever thrown a Frisbee before, let alone played the game. But, we decided to build - and the students came. We started on a cold and rainy blacktop next to our school and have now grown to have a varsity and JV program. Our team has attended some top national tournaments and finished 2nd in our league for two years in a row.
Today we have a team that is returning a core of veterans - the first class who have played for four years with the team and finally, we have a field to play on. Now when my players are running wind sprints, or drills, or preparing offensive and defensive strategies they will be doing so on a regulation professionally lined field. More importantly though when we step onto the fields at national caliber tournaments my players will know they belong. My players will know they deserve to be there because they are stepping onto the exact same fields they've practiced on since December.
You have helped us build this program, and we can't thank you enough.”
With gratitude,
Mr. McCabe
Engage High School Students with World Through Newspapers and Magazines
Funded Dec 9, 2012Thank you so much for your support of this project. We have already received a sample issue from the New York Times Upfront magazine and the students are very excited. The 16 issues we received allowed students not only to read about the current events of the day but also engage in quality conversations with one another about those events.
It is a special and empowering thing when you overhear an engaged and informed conversation between two students about global affairs or an upcoming election. Conversations such as those force a realization that if students are empowered with the right resources, guided by the right teachers and supported by amazing individuals such as yourselves the world is theirs to conquer.
I can't wait to see how our classrooms transform next year when these magazines are arriving every other week. Thank you so much for your generous support!”
With gratitude,
Mr. McCabe
Give High School Athletes the Ultimate Summer
Funded May 17, 2012Thank you so much. My boys just got back from ultimate camp and they are incredibly excited to start our season. They spent the last week on a college campus, training and playing with some of the best ultimate players in the game. They made friends from across the country while, hanging out in the dorms and eating together in the cafeteria, all while learning a great sport. I wish you could hear the enthusiasm in their voices when they told me about their experiences.
I had the chance to see the boys mid-week when they traveled back into the city to watch a showcase ultimate game in a stadium as part of the NexGen Tour (a college all-star team that travels the country playing teams in 16 north American cities). They were beaming as they sat in the stands, surrounded by new friends from around the U.S. After the game they were taken down to the fields to meet the players on both teams. Needless to say, they loved every second of it.
So, thank you. Thank you so much for making a difference in the lives of my players, for giving them this great summer experience, for making them better ultimate players, for giving them the opportunity to make new friends, and for giving them the opportunity to grow as young men. This wouldn't have been possible without you.
I hope to replicate this project again next year and give even more of our team the opportunity to have the ultimate summer - I hope we can count on your support again next spring!
Thank you again, so much, from a grateful coach.”
With gratitude,
Mr. McCabe
Outliers and Looking for Alaska - More Books for Young Readers!
Funded Feb 7, 2012I can not thank you enough for your generous contributions. Thanks to you my students are now halfway through "Looking For Alaska" and loving it! It has given us an opportunity to discuss some of the challenges teens face head on. My students have loved John Green's comic, if sometimes irreverent, descriptions of life at boarding school and empathized with the highs and lows traversed by the main character.
We are looking forward to picking up Outliers early next school year to connect with our yearlong theme - "What are we capable of?" Already I have had the opportunity to reference some of Malcolm Gladwell's memorable passages during our advisory and World History classes. For example we were able to discuss the rise of capitalism during the industrial revolution through Gladwell's discussion of the richest individuals in history.
So, thank you again. You have both enriched the academic discussion in my classes as well as provided a forum to further character education and personal development.”
With gratitude,
Mr. McCabe
This classroom project was brought to life by Donor and 11 other donors.Help Share A Love Of Reading With Sophomore Students!
Funded Aug 29, 2011Thank you. Your generous contributions have opened up a world of reading for my students. Within a few days of starting Hunger Games many of the students were in love. They were swept away by the adventure and allure of Katniss Everdeen as she competed in the arena. They blazed through the first book and within a week I noticed several books with blue covers appearing on desks. Then, books with red covers. My students had so enjoyed the stories that with their own money and on their own time they had sought out and bought the second and third books of the series - Mockingjay and Catching Fire.
It seems the plan is working. In the last few days we started reading the first Harry Potter book. Even though most had seen the movie and some had read the book their eyes still drift upwards a bit as we read aloud. For however brief a moment they are transported into the story, from our classroom on the west-side of the city into the life of another young boy facing adversity striving to make a difference in his world. I can't help but notice that during independent reading time many students are chapters ahead of where we are as a class - a reality that I am completely at peace with.
I can't thank you enough for making these moments possible. You are helping to instill a love of reading in teenage boys, an effort that requires and deserves our collective attention - and one which will pay dividends for years to come. Simply, thank you.”
With gratitude,
Mr. McCabe
Project Hope into a Chicago Classroom
Funded Apr 8, 2010I can not thank you enough for you incredibly generous donations. A few weeks ago a brand new projector arrived in our classroom. We have used it to keep up to date on the Iceland volcano explosion - showing incredible video and pictures of what it looked like and the global effect it had. These past two weeks my students learned all about the geography and impact of the gulf coast oil spill by looking at incredible pictures of the leak site.
We have used the projector to watch short films about cities we have studied, to see animations about pertinent science topics on sound and Earth systems. We are a very lucky classroom - the only one in the entire school with a projector to use on a daily basis, and you made it possible.
The pencils and sharpener that were included in this package have been a life saver too! My students no longer have to worry about being prepared for class because there are always sharpened pencils waiting for them. And because the motor on the sharpener is super fast I have been able to spend more time planning lessons and improving instruction, instead of waiting for pencils to sharpen.
Your impact on my student's learning has been immediate and will be lasting. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, your support means the world.”
With gratitude,
Mr. McCabe
Robust Readers Need Just Right Books!
Funded Mar 23, 2010I can not thank you enough for your generous donations to my classroom. My students went crazy for the new books and have been reading them voraciously for the past few weeks. My students have used the books to work on their summarizing skills, reading fluency, and so much more.
Your impact is felt at such an important time in our school year. We are now only 22 school days away from our last day of school now - only 22 days to keep working towards the big goal in our class of growing 1.5 years in one year. It would have been extremely disheartening to watch my students intense desire to grow go to waste without the necessary materials. Thanks to you they are able to concentrate their efforts on achieving their goals for this school year and beyond. ”
With gratitude,
Mr. McCabe