Past projects 4
Empower Teens to be Kind to their Minds!
Funded Sep 2, 2024I want to express my deepest gratitude on behalf of my students and me for your generous donation of snacks, mindfulness cards, community-building games, and coloring materials. Your support has had an incredible impact on our classroom and has truly helped us create a safe and welcoming space where students can unwind, connect, and strengthen their mental health.
We've incorporated these resources into a new after-school program that focuses on fostering self-confidence, building relationships, and promoting mindfulness. Every day after school, students now have a place to gather, relax, and recharge. Whether they're enjoying a snack while talking with friends or using the mindfulness cards to reflect and calm their minds after a busy day, these materials have become an essential part of their routine.
When the students first saw the materials, they were overjoyed! Their excitement was palpable as they explored the coloring supplies and eagerly flipped through the mindfulness cards. Many expressed how much they appreciated having a space where they could relax and just be themselves.
Thank you again for your generosity. Your support has made a tangible difference in our classroom community, and I know it will continue to positively impact our students for years to come.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Francolino
Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader!
Funded Aug 24, 2017As soon as my students enter our classroom each morning, we recite our statements of affirmation. "I am open-minded. I am brave. I am caring. I am empathetic. I am a wonder. I am intelligent. I am READY TO LEARN." With your gracious donation to our classroom, you have made those statements a reality in our classroom and for that we are eternally grateful!
My students face daunting odds--they come from low-income households, many are first generation Americans learning English for the first time, they are all diagnosed with a variety of disabilities and they attend school in a district that consistently faces devastating budget cuts. What to some looks like insurmountable challenges, these are the very characteristics that will inform my students' ability to be change makers in their communities and in our world. They are learning to persevere and they know deep down that "they were born to stand out."
Each day in our classroom we are building the foundations of reading and writing. Embedded in each task, however, is a sense of purpose and passion that shines through. Your donations to our classroom allowed our class to get access to mentor texts and a writing curriculum so that our students could learn to write persuasive letters--to their parents, to the principal advocating for a school policy change and to the president advocating for a national policy change. Your donations allowed us to purchase a set of books allowing kids to access countries like Poland, Tanzania and Ecuador without having to leave our classroom. Your donations purchased books on "Character Education" so that my students build their character by "daring to have courage" and "Persevering and Never Giving Up."
Your donations purchased sight word games to enhance my students' ability to fluently recognize high-frequency words while demonstrating that learning is, indeed, the funnest thing one could ever imagine. Students who, prior to your donation, struggled to get motivated and struggled to retain reading skills are now making academic gains outpacing their general education peers. With your help, we are empowering the next generation to be courageous risk-takers with the literacy skills to make an impact in our world. My students embrace their differences because it makes them unique, it makes them wonders and thus they routinely ask, "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"
Thank you for your enormous and selfless generosity to support our classroom and our students. Thank you for supporting me in my quest to empower students with disabilities. Most importantly, thank you for believing in my students--it means the world to them..and to me.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Francolino
"One Book and One Pen Can CHANGE the World!"
Funded Nov 15, 2015"How can we make the world a better place?" This is a question posted on an enormous piece of chart paper in our classroom. Despite their young ages, despite their labels with "disabilities" and their academic challenges living in a low-income neighborhood, my students feel that urge and that passion to do their part to make the world a better place. They yearn to empathize and understand our community--and the global community--so that they can take action and be true public servants!
Building young readers and writers starts with two things: passion and purpose. My students desire to read and write about things that are of high interest to them. They crave to write freely about topics and ideas that relate to their passions. In addition, they seek purpose. They want to know that when we read and when we write, there is a purpose behind it. That is what this project, that you so generously funded, has allowed us to do. These multicultural texts have offered students the ability to acquire knowledge of kids, just like them, who are doing their part to bring positive changes to their communities. We read these books out loud to our whole group and have had rich discussions about kids around the world, about cultures similar and different from ours, and, in doing so, we continually add ideas to our "making the world a better place" chart!
Now that my students have access to these global texts that instill a sense of international-mindedness and globalism, my students now have the strong urge to write. They write stories about their own lives that compare (and contrast) to the stories that we read about. They write about ways that they can make their world a better place. They share their stories with their peers, they celebrate each others' ideas and passions and they learn and grow together! These writing supplies that this project offered help my students stay focused on their carefully constructed ideas because they now have their beloved privacy shields. They now have private journals that they can continue to practice their writing and build their passion for it and their stamina to complete it.
These are students who began this year with decreased self-esteem, fears that they may never learn to read, a disdain for even the idea of writing. Now, with this project these same kids have found their voice and found their passions. More importantly than building readers and writers, this project allows my kids to gain pride in themselves—and increase their appreciation and understanding of others. This global conscience, in an ever interconnected world, is more important than ever because the need to act as a global citizen has never been greater.
Thank you so much for your investment in my students. They are already doing their part to make our world a better place!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Francolino
One in a Minion: Manipulatives for Diverse Math Minions!
Funded Oct 12, 2015My students were in the middle of a math talk (an opportunity for them to appreciate different strategies for solving a math problem, while talking it out with their peers) when a large box was delivered to our door. The curious minds couldn't keep their eyes off of the box, but we decided that it would be opened once we completed all of our math activities. I thought, "of course my kids love math, but how excited could they really get about new math supplies?" Upon opening the box, my ideal became reality. My students cheered and clapped for each math manipulative that I pulled out of the box. It was an invigorating moment.
The purpose of this project was two-fold: increase student math engagement and make math "come alive" for my students. That is exactly what this project did. My students inquired about place value, they built their passion for it and their number sense with the use of the magnetic place value blocks. They are eager to practice their fluency skills (multiplication, addition, subtraction and division) independently and when they determine they need that extra reinforcement. My students are eager to tell time, now that they have a talking clock that makes telling time "alive and fun." Having magnetic coins have allowed my students to understand the value of money, how to skip count and how to exchange money with others. With these materials and this rejuvenation of our math attitudes, students have built a sense of community and a sense of ownership centered on the inherent value of math!
Moving forward, my students now have the opportunity to learn the way that is best for them. As diverse learners, my students have every potential to learn and grow. They just need the resources to allow them to tap their endless potential. Hands-on learning materials that make my kids love math and that make it come alive for them will have incredible implications for their future as mathematicians!
Thank you so much for believing in and supporting my students in their quest to be life-long learners!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Francolino