Past projects 7
Successful Small Groups
Funded Sep 30, 2024Thank you so much for thinking of my students when you decided to donate to my project. I cannot believe we are already into the month of November. During the first two months of school my students have been learning how to read, multiply, and write creative stories.
Thanks to your generosity, we have the supplies we need to make the most out of our small group time. The dry erase boards and markers let us practice writing words and completing math problems. Not only did students get stickers for working my small groups, but we even used some to write sticker stories. One of my students even wrote the most he has ever written in one sitting once he got to write a story with the stickers.
In the coming months, I hope to continue to build on the all the successes of this past month. We will continue to practice our math strategies and learning how to spell words. I look forward to seeing everything my students accomplish this year. Thank you so much for being a part of it all!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kelnhofer
PBIS Prizes to Start the Year!
Funded Aug 9, 2022Thank you so much for helping our school's PBIS team get off to a great start this year! One of our first events of the year was having a passport day where students got to walk around the building and learn about being safe, respectful, and responsible in different areas of the school. On one of their stops, teachers were given a bag of the prizes to use in their classroom for individual student rewards. Many of the students were excited to get to pick out their very own prize. Their eyes lit up and many couldn't wait to go home and show their parents.
Throughout the year, our PBIS team will host more events that will continue to bring joy to students at school. We cannot wait for our upcoming costume dance and cookie decorating day. Our team also spends the whole year planning for our end of the year school carnival. Thank you for your support and helping our team be able to provide rewards for our entire school!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kelnhofer
PBIS Prizes
Funded Oct 13, 2019Thank you so much for supporting the students at my school. With your help, we have been able to successfully run our school store for our older students and have prizes for our younger students. The kids are so excited to look through all the items and pick something out that they earned with their tickets. Some are even able to learn about saving tickets for items that are priced higher.
Because of your generous donations, our teachers have been able to promote positive behavior and focus more on those making the right choices every day. Our schools referrals continue to decline and we currently have our lowest number of referrals since I began chairing our school's behavior team and monitoring data.
Our next steps are to plan booster events when students come back after winter break in January and figure out how to keep promoting positive behaviors. We have a school-wide cookie decorating activity coming up in a little over a week where older students will help younger students decorate a cookie before getting to enjoy time together. I look forward to seeing what our behavior team plans for students for the rest of the year! Stay tuned for future projects!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kelnhofer
Say YES to PBIS! Store Refresher!
Funded Apr 16, 2019Thank you so much for your support with our school's PBIS program! So far this year students got to enjoy many events such as our glow dance, movie day, staff versus student basketball game, and cookie decorating. Our PBIS team puts in a lot of time to try and make everyone enjoy their time at Forest Home. During the final 8 weeks of the school year, we are really focusing on promoting positive behaviors. Students who are seen following rules, showing empathy, and trying their best are rewarded with PBIS tickets that can be used in our school store or raffle. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to restock our store and raffle prizes with items that the students are excited about getting. Everyone gets a chance to pick their very own reward. Without you, this would not have been possible. I look forward to sharing pictures with you. Thanks again for joining our team in saying yes to PBIS!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kelnhofer
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 5 other donors.Recess Fun!
Funded Aug 20, 2018Every year our school's behavior team tries to find ways to continue to improve our school's climate and culture. One area that we wanted to really improve upon this year was our recess time. With our first week of school coming to an end, I can say we are well on our way to improving our students' recess experiences. They were all thrilled to see that we had different areas with organized activities such as flag football, tag, and basketball. Other students were excited to draw pictures with chalk or play soccer. Because of you, we were able to start our year off with implementing a recess vision we began creating last year. We were even able to make videos of different staff members demonstrating the different activities so the kids could see how the items should be used.
Because of you, we are able to give our students a chance to play games that would not possible with the equipment we got. For that, I am forever grateful. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for us!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kelnhofer
Starting the Year off Right
Funded Sep 5, 2018I cannot believe that the first month of school finished this last week! We are off to a great start and it would not have been possible without you! Every classroom in 1st through 5th grade is using Class Dojo, an online point program where they are given points for demonstrating positive behaviors. They can in turn use these points to buy items at our store. They have especially loved all the emoji items, pencils, party favors, squish toys, pencil sharpeners, bracelets, cards and pens. By having this variety of items to choose from, we are able to reach more of our students! Our younger students in K3 - K5 have been excited about getting items in our school raffle. If only you could see their smiles when their name is announced for being safe, respectful, and responsible. Because of your generous donation, we were able to get our school store and raffle up and running from day 1. Anytime we can start the year off with something so positive is important for year long success.
As for the other items, the flair pens, pencils, dry erase markers, and glue sticks, they have all been used to enhance my instruction during this first month of school. I love getting to know my new students every year and these items allowed us to really get a new routine down for the year. Writing, especially for some of my special education students can seem like an uphill climb. However, by using different colored pens, students get excited about their learning. Something as simple as picking a fun color to write in really can motivate students to produce their best work. I can't wait to see how much every student grows this year.
Again, I cannot thank you enough for helping me and my students start this year off. I hope that our behavior team can continue to promote positive behaviors throughout the year. When kids love school, they attend more and learn more. My ultimate goal is that everyone reaches his or her potential. Thank you for being a part in changing the present and future for my students and all the students at our school.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kelnhofer
This classroom project was brought to life by Neukom Family Foundation and 2 other donors.Say YES to PBIS! End of the Year Carnival!
Funded May 14, 2018I can't begin to thank you enough for helping make our end of the year carnival a success. In a school with over 700 students, planning a carnival takes a team effort to make sure that there are activities and prizes for all students to enjoy. As our PBIS team always says, teamwork makes the dream work! You all became a part of our team effort! The moment I found out that our project was funded, I was beyond grateful for donors like you. Without you, the carnival would not have been possible.
Our carnival was held on the Friday before school ended for the summer. It was a school-wide celebration that every student got to participate in. Every student got to go home with a prize that they picked out on their own. They were thrilled to see everything from toy cars, to necklaces, and sporting equipment. We also were able to have new face paint for our most popular station! The kids were excited to get their faces painted like Spider-Man, tigers, unicorns, Wonder Woman, Batman, and more! The look of pure joy on all of their faces was great to see.
Next year, our PBIS team will continue to find ways to improve student behaviors and attendance. We plan two events every month to promote a positive school culture. We hope to improve our school store with different incentives that students want to work towards earning. I also hope to keep our tradition of having an end of the year carnival. I cannot thank you enough for you generosity.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kelnhofer