Past projects 10
Chess Club: Not Just For Geeks
Funded Oct 11, 2013Thank you so much for your donation of chess sets and chess books for our chess club. Your donations have been very helpful. Upon receiving the supplies, we began a regular chess club which we hold for 20+ students each Friday afternoon. It is a lot of fun and the students are improving greatly. We've even started a ranking system, which is a lot of fun.
Part of education is creating meaningful experiences outside of the traditional classroom. I think that we are offering the students something really meaningful which will improve their critical thinking and logic skills. That is our hope, anyway. Thank you for your help in making our dreams a reality.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ward
We Need Tech-cessories!!
Funded Sep 5, 2013I just want to send a big, huge thank you for the headphones and computer mice that we received from your donations. I am glad to have partners in bringing our students a fantastic education.
The items you contributed may sound simple, but they have made a big impact in my class. When we are in class and I am working with other students, kids who are on the computers or tablets are just more focused. It's like they are in the zone, not bothering anyone, focused on their work. The biggest change is in the computer lab. The time spent there used to feel like half chatter and half learning. Now, when we go in there, you hear the sounds of focused kids learning. The students are using their headphones to either learn from videos or listen to classical music as they do their math. I am free to help the students since I don't have to be constantly asking students to focus on their work. I can't explain it completely, but it seems to be working.
The digital revolution in the classroom is just beginning, and I hope to be a part of it. There are so many great online resources that I want my students to use. As we seek to improve academically, adaptive learning through technology is going to be a crucial component to the equation.
Thanks again, I'll be uploading pictures soon so that you can see how happy my students are to be using the resources.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ward
This classroom project was brought to life by Southeast Area Kia Retailers and 8 other donors.iPads = iLearn
Funded Oct 16, 2012I wanted to write a brief note and thank you for the iPads we received from your donation. The Fuel your School challenge that you did was fantastic and will really help our school over time.
The kids love using the iPads. They are such a great learning tool. Just today, we have been using them in partners to create presentations about Texas Indians. So in terms of preparing them for the future and getting to know technology, I don't think we could have given them a better tool. The iPads have also been fantastic for basic math facts, geography, music, reading, and even a little science. There are so many tools that make it fantastic for learning.
It means a lot that your corporation would reach out to us. I think we are going to really change the face of education with successful initiatives like this one.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ward
Blasting Off Academically!
Funded Mar 3, 2012Well, we are in the middle of summer now, and so it has been about a month since we launched our rockets. Sorry it took me so long to write and say thank you. The end of the year was a really busy time.
We ended up with 17/22 students launching their rockets and achieving their goal in math. It was a huge motivating factor for them. They worked hard to master their objectives, and I sure was proud of them. We built the rockets after school. Some built them at home, but mostly I stayed after school and built the rockets with them. The day of the launch was beautiful. We lost a few of the initial launches, but as we got better at it, they started coming back to us. The students got to launch their own rocket. It was a great activity.
The students really enjoyed this activity. I apologize that I was not quicker in acknowledging your roles in making it happen. Still, I am so happy that it did happen, and that more importantly, that the students learned so many difficult concepts.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ward
Celebrating Our Heritage!
Funded Feb 29, 2012I just wanted to write a quick note and say thank you for the donation you made to help us visit the Houston Heritage Museum. The trip was very positive for all of the students involved. They were able to experience a part of our history that they would probably not get the chance to see. The kids were able to tour different houses from different eras in the history of Houston. Their favorite (from what I could tell) was an old log cabin. Most of the kids said it was haunted, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't.
Thank you again for your generosity”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ward
Book Set Blast Off!
Funded Sep 21, 2011Thank you so much for your wonderful donations! You know, in our school, we have very limited resources. Over the last two years, I have submitted a few donors choose projects for book sets. I now have enough book sets to last us the whole year. Your donation was a key part of having enough books. The kids love reading out of real books. I think they understand how cool it is. They don't have the privileges that some of us had of having a small library of books at home. They think that having their own book to have and hold is the coolest thing ever. Of course, they don't get to keep the book, but as soon as we're done, they get to exchange it for another one, and they love it!
The students are progressing in their reading levels and I want to say thank you for making an impact and helping them to succeed. Their whole lives are effected by your decisions to help us out! On behalf of me and my classroom, thank you.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ward
Classroom Library Needed!
Funded Sep 21, 2011It has been a few months since your donation to my classroom. I want to take the time now to express my appreciation for the donations you all made on our behalf. The materials we got for our classroom library were AWESOME. The library has grown very much. It is difficult for a classroom library to grow without spending incredible amounts of money. We have gotten some donations before this one, but they are always few and far between.
The kids in my class are really improving their reading ability. They needed the books to read and the skills to understand them and read better. Hopefully I can provide the skills now that you have provided the books.
You have done some great good for my classroom and the students who are here all day. Thanks so much!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ward
Give Us The Gift Of Art!
Funded Feb 23, 2011I am really late on writing this letter, but I just wanted to take the opportunity to say Thank You so much for helping us to have art in our classroom. I didn't get the chance to take any pictures of their art, at least not that I can find, but the kids LOVED the opportunity.
For the last year, I've been working with a museum to do an art curriculum. The art supplies allowed us to do some really cool painting projects that were suggested by the curriculum.
Most of all, the kids were exposed and had a good time drawing with their fingers and with the brushes. Thanks again!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ward
English Class Sets
Funded Nov 28, 2010Just wanted to write a quick note and say thanks so much for the donation. We have so far read Freckle Juice as a whole class read aloud and intend to use Marvin Redpost next. My kids greatly enjoyed and benefited from Freckle Juice. It was right on their level.
The other part of this donation was the weekly reader subscription. That is a pretty cool resource too, especially because we don't always have a ton of time for social studies. I really appreciate your generosity and for helping my kids to learn to read. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ward
We Need A Spanish Library!
Funded Jun 7, 2010We are so grateful for the donation that you made to our classroom. Last year I was the 2nd grade teacher for these students and I was deeply concerned about their ability to read in English and in Spanish. In English we always had plenty of work because we have a curriculum and plenty of books that the school had printed for us. In Spanish, however, our library was seriously lacking. I am so glad that you saw our need and decided to help us out. Now we are in third grade together. Since we've received the resources, the students have been reading in Spanish a lot more often and have been improving by leaps and bounds. They are almost ready for their Spring-time standardized test (the TAKS), and it is only November!
So, all I can say is thank you again for caring enough about the education of these children to send them this gift. It is helping them immensely and will continue to provide us with the tools we need for the future.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ward