Past projects 6
Glaze It- Ceramic Selfies!
Funded Oct 17, 2018I am immensely grateful for your generous donation that has not only impacted my classroom but our entire school! Thanks to your donation, my students were able to use the new materials to create a meaningful project that beautified and added a pop of color to our school. Something magical happens in students when they define themselves as artists and creators. All students deserve the opportunity to be their best creative selves, which can be achieved through collaborative projects. These are the kind of projects that students remember for a lifetime! The funding provided the needed materials for the students to create, draw and glaze the colorful tiles. As a result of this collaborative art project, the students gained self-confidence, critical thinking skills and have left a legacy behind.
The tiles created by the students have transformed our school and have added a much needed pop of color! The tiles were placed in a location that is hard to miss by anyone... even from far away visitors can get a glimpse of the color of our beautiful mural. At first the kids did not understand why they could not keep their tile to take home- after they saw it installed, they now understand that their artwork serves a better purpose. Not only does the tile project beautify our school, but it is also a reminder that the arts are an important and necessary component of our lives!
Through this project, the students were able to learn a variety of art skills. Not only did the students learn a valuable lesson on proportions, but they also learned to be patient. The students had to wait for their clay pieces to be glazed when they added three layers and then fired. The slab roller has saved so much time in the classroom and has allowed for us to be able to create even slabs for the student's projects- their slab self-portraits looked amazing and the students were very proud with their creations. From now on, the slab roller will simplify our process and we are planning on using it for years to come!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Villalba
Kindness Rocks!
Funded Oct 23, 2017I am immensely grateful for your generous contribution to our classroom. Thanks to your donation, my students were able to use the new materials to create a meaningful project that beautified and added a pop of color to our school. When I explained to the students that you had donated art supplies to them, they were confused. They did not understand how someone that doesn't know them would do something nice for them. This was a perfect connection with the project that we created since the main theme was "KINDNESS". Your donation is the perfect example that kindness exists in our world!
We read and discussed the book "Only One You"... the theme is about being kind. The children then created fish shaped like rocks using the watercolor paper you donated. They then, painted a rock using the acrylic paint and paint markers to look like a fish and had to think about a kind message to write on the back. The rocks were sprayed and were placed in a high traffic area in our school for all to see!
Thanks to you, this successful project was possible. Thank you so much for supporting the arts and students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Villalba
Technology and Supplies to Enhance Art!
Funded Oct 7, 2016Thank you for your generous donation that has not only impacted my classroom but our entire school! Thanks to the printer/scanner I was able to obtain through donors choose, I have been able to print reference sheets for the students IN COLOR! Color is so important in art and it makes a big difference! I have also been able to print color graphics for various posters, bulletin boards and banners for school wide events. When the students are in need of reference images, they can immediately print them now!
The supplies I was able to obtain through the generous donations from donors choose have been a blessing in our classroom! The students feel special when they find out that someone they don't know contributed to materials that enhance their artwork. Thanks to the new materials I was able to do a self-portrait lesson with an entire class now that I have enough mirrors for each student to use. I was also able to use the markers for a stippling project with my fifth grade students. The variety of colors has provided my students many options that are typically not available with the markers we currently have. The printmaking plates will be used in the near future with my students. I have already told them about it and they can't wait to use them!
Thank you again for your donation, it has made a huge difference to my students colorful world of art!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Villalba
More Choices In Art!
Funded Oct 6, 2015I would like to thank you for your donation of art materials to my classroom! The students were very excited when they first saw the aprons to protect their clothing and could not wait to use them!!! They were also very excited to try out a new medium with the bright and bold tempera cakes. The tempera cakes have made painting in the classroom much easier and the kids are enjoying the process very much!
Thank you very much for your donation of liquid watercolors. It was my first time introducing students to using liquid watercolors rather than the regular pan watercolors and the colors are much more vibrant! The students used the liquid watercolors to add a layer of color to their African mud cloth inspired artwork. Recently, students are using the tempera cakes to create warm and cool color paintings that will be the base of a paper weaving.
I will be using the metallic paint for a unit on Egyptian art in the next weeks, to follow up on a visit to an art museum where they learned about Egyptian art. Thanks to your donation, you have helped make my classroom brighter and have given my students an opportunity to experiment with a variety of media! I will be forever grateful for your generosity!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Villalba
Seeing Through a Quality Digital Lens
Funded Oct 7, 2014Thank you so much for providing these great resources for my students! I am so grateful that you share my vision for helping children have the best technology and tools to learn in the visual arts field! When I told them that generous donors had purchased digital cameras for THEM, they could not believe it!
We have been using the cameras daily in our classroom. The cameras have added another dimension to the quality of pictures that my students are able to take. The cameras have also been used when students have gone to field trips around Miami, such as Art Basel, the Perez Art Museum and Vizcaya.
The materials provided through donors choose have greatly impacted my classroom because it has allowed students to have access to better equipment. The DSRL cameras have allowed my students to have more control as photographers by using manual settings and have helped them to immediately visualize the manual process.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Villalba
This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and 2 other donors.Art Meets Technology!
Funded Nov 21, 2013Having technology in my classroom has been something I only dreamed of and thanks to your generous donation, it is now a reality! When I told my classes that the grant through Donors Choose had been fulfilled, some of my students were shocked that someone they don't know would donate something to make their experience better. In general, they were very excited to be able to see images of artists better and larger, rather than me holding the small visual aids around the room. They were thrilled to have speakers to listen to music as they work on their artwork. They tell me that the music allows their creativity to flow. The donated resources are used in my classroom on a daily basis and have positively impacted the way I teach and they way my students learn.
I use the donated technology resources to show images and videos related to the lesson. For example, I was able to introduce my students to visual artist Vik Muniz and the motivation behind his art project "Pictures of Garbage", through a nine minute clip of the film Waste Land. My students were able to view this clip through the projector that was placed on the cart and were able to listen to the video through the speakers. This video made a great impact on the students and immediately engaged them in the lesson that followed. I introduce each new lesson with a power point presentation that has images related to the lesson. As a reward for remaining on task and behaving, I play music through the speakers while the students are creating their masterpieces!
The quality of the large images that I am able to project to my white board are crisp and bright, which is exactly what I needed in order to show a variety of images, videos and presentations to my students. Having these donated resources in my classroom is a dream come true! The moment I turn off the lights, my classroom becomes immediately quiet and engaged, as the students are eager to watch what I have prepared to introduce them to the lesson. I am very grateful for your generous donation that has made a great impact to my students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Villalba
This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and one other donor.