Mrs. Willard's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 12

• Calming Corner: Creating a Safe Space for all Students

  Funded Nov 26, 2023

  Thank you for supporting our school's calming corner.

  Our calming corner reminds our students that they have a space to express their emotions and calm their minds.

  As a result of your donation, our students have access to tools and activities they can experience in our calming corners. They have motivational workbooks, stress toys, and coloring pages. All these activities have really added to our corner and helped students immensely to cope with their emotions. Additionally, they have a space they can turn.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Willard

  This classroom project was brought to life by Olga Graham Inspiring Teachers Fund and 3 other donors.

• Let's Go Deeper! Book Clubs With Toni Morrison's Beloved

  Funded Aug 9, 2022

  Thank you so much for giving my students the opportunity to read such a meaningful and poignant text. My students were truly engaged during each reading. Watching them decipher metaphors and unravel symbolism as well as tackle difficult questions and disparities brought me joy. It was a pleasure watching them share ideas together on such a complex text.

  Having a copy for each student made it a lot easier to monitor in class and at home learning and allowed students to reread the text whenever needed.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Willard

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 3 other donors.

• Teaching the History of the Holocaust Through Symbols and Illustrations

  Funded Dec 17, 2021

  Thank you so much for providing students this opportunity to learn about the Holocaust through symbolism. Students learned how to read for hidden meaning and inference, as well as identify multiple perspectives on an event.

  Additionally, they improved their writing skills. Students enjoyed reading this book immensely! They were engaged in reading and asked meaningful questions.

  Sometimes learning about horrific events from history can be extremely difficult for students. Having the opportunity to learn about history in a different way really connected to my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Willard

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 2 other donors.

• Teaching Academic English with Graphic Novels: The Joy of Reading

  Funded Sep 25, 2021

  Thank you again for your contribution to our classroom. Students truly enjoyed reading their first graphic novel last semester, Persepolis. They were engaged and participated in a series of text based conversations.

  As a result of your donation, students' improved in their reading fluency across the board in my class. Every student increased their score on their Reading Inventory exam by over 150 points...some two levels.

  In reading graphic novels, the stories come alive to my students. They love analyzing the words and images that go with them!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Willard

• The Queen's Gambit Coming to School: Help Support Chess

  Funded Jun 8, 2021

  Our students are so thankful for your donation. Every Friday they have a classroom to play chess in and challenge each other to games.

  The number of students who started this club has grown three times since we started.

  It is such a pleasure to provide students the opportunity to use cutting edge skills and focus when playing a game.

  As students enter the room, they know to grab a box of chess and begin their games. There are prizes for winners at the end of each game.

  This program has increased school spirit at our school site.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Willard

• Enrique's Journey: Sharing Resilience and Empathy in a Classroom Setting

  Funded Jul 20, 2021

  Thank you so much for supporting our students.

  Reading Enrique's journey will help deepen my students' critically thinking and questioning skills, as well as provide opportunities for meaningful and relevant conversation.

  Many of our students, who are immigrants themselves, can really identify with Enrique as he travels to the United States to be reunited with his mother. This opportunity would not be possible without the support of donors like you, who care about our children. Thank you so much!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Willard

  This classroom project was brought to life by Emerson Collective.

• Criminal Justice Reform: Adding Resources for High School Debaters

  Funded Feb 19, 2021

  Thank you for providing this HP laptop for use in our debate tournaments.

  By having an HP, instead of a Chromebook, students find switching between documents more easy and have expressed how the feature of an HP, such as video, work a lot better during debates.

  Unfortunately, with the new debate online platform many students are unable to turn on their video, which is truly disappointing, especially when their opponents are able to do so.

  With this technology, students can experience a better quality debate atmosphere, one without technical difficulties.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Willard

• Access to Headphones: What a Difference Sound Makes

  Funded Dec 22, 2020

  Thank you for your kindness and generosity! Providing headphones for students allows them to participate more effectively during debates and classes, and gives them an ability to block out outside noises that interfere with instruction.

  Students were very excited to receive their goody bags of headphones. They appreciated receiving these very comfortable headphones.

  In debate speaking and listening is the main skills needed and, oftentimes, people on the other end cannot hear you. Having headphones alleviates this problem!

  We want to thank you again!!!

  With appreciation and gratitude,

  Lauren Willard”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Willard

• Reading Circles with Stevenson's Just Mercy

  Funded Oct 15, 2020

  Thank you so much for providing my students an opportunity to read this eye opening reading!

  Students engaged in countless discussions about the US legal system and policing, among other topics and participated in many class debates and seminars, which aided meaningful discussion.

  Students are very appreciative to have their own copy of this book, which makes it a lot easier to annotate and discuss.

  We are so honored to have a community that provides such access to rich and meaningful school learning materials and could not be more enthralled.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Willard

  This classroom project was brought to life by Equal Justice Initiative and 2 other donors.

• Debate On! Using Technology to Make Dreams Possible

  Funded Dec 22, 2019

  Thanks to your donations, more students in my debate class will be effectively equipped with laptops for their upcoming debate tournament.

  The impact of gaining computers in this class is huge. The majority of students in this class do not have access to a laptop, or ipad, at home, so your contribution allows them to compete at debates without having to worry about accessing the necessary readings and online search data.

  They use these devices to annotate countless readings (hundreds of documents), to research questions and topics during before and during debates, and to store their work.As a result of debating in high school, many of my students have the opportunity to engage intellectually among students from various high schools around the district. This opportunity would not be possible without these computers.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Willard