Past projects 10
Murals, Mazes, and More! Enrichment in 2024-25
Funded Aug 25, 2024We are so grateful to receive the donations to our classroom.
First of all, tissues are the most luxurious item in a classroom. Students feel comforted and cared for when there is a steady stream of tissues.
Secondly, the prizes have been a great motivator for first period on time attendance and for group efforts. The favorite pizza have been the drawing materials.
Finally, the beads have been great for celebrations and days where we have activities. Students love making bracelets for their friends.
The mural happens in May, so more updates on that soon ☺️
We are so grateful for your contributions to our class.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Stephina
Instant Photography for High School Seniors!
Funded Dec 3, 2024Thank you for your generous contribution to our classroom! We lol forward to ringing in the new year with instant photography 🤗
We hope you are staying warm and enjoying the season.
We'll report back with photos and share it experience once we get back from winter break!
Take care 🌸”
With gratitude,
Ms. Stephina
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 6 other donors.Ramen for Community Building!
Funded Mar 17, 2024Another senior year complete and another group of young adults are off to determine their own futures.
Ramen Fridays was a huge success! We hosted 6 Friday ramen events, where seniors took on different roles in the ramen making.
Some did the preparation of the tables, others cooked the ramen, while others set the tone with music or movies.
Seniors got to share memories, spread love and connect with each other over ramen. Sometimes there were discussion prompts, but mostly they just got to relax and build community together in the final months of their high school phase.
Thank you so much for your support of this experience. We had a great time and hope to do it again next year ‼️‼️”
With gratitude,
Ms. Stephina
Snacks for Senior Advising!
Funded Sep 21, 2023Thank you for supporting our students as they got through their college and career application and decisions -making process!
We made little gift bags and gave them out during a celebration of their hard work applying to colleges and writing essays, and their high stakes decisions (choosing where to apply).
Students were delighted by the offering and they enjoyed getting a care package from their community.
It feels really special to have community share and contribute to youth life decisions, so we thank you for your offering!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Stephina
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 5 other donors.Whose Armory? BX Youth Kingsbridge Armory Proposals to NYC!
Funded Mar 17, 2023We are ever grateful for your contribution to our a Kingsbridge Armory Youth Forum back in March of 2023.
Students from 6 different schools met with city council representative and development leaders to discuss their ideas for the Armory redevelopment. We also got to take an exclusive trip inside the Armory as you can see our groups photo attached.
Your gifts provided sanitary supplies and nourishment for our event and supported making the experience memorable for our youth!
We remember your contribution as schools don't always have the resources to send students out to see the Civic processes as they are unfolding.
We hope this experience with your support will encourage our youth to stay involved with democratic decision-making as they grow into their adulthood.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Stephina
Seniors Tie Dye
Funded Nov 16, 2022We adored the Tie Dye Project! Seniors had a blast creating spiral and scrunch designs, and putting their vision to the fabric.
Almost every senior participated in the experience! We got to spend a day down in the science lab making a loving colorful mess of the space. Seniors got to make a shirt for themselves and a friend.
Because it was around Winter Break, the students got to bring a shirt home right before break and develop the colors over the long week.
Since then, Seniors have been wearing their shirts. Each time someone comes in with theirs on, everyone talks about how fun it was and how they want to do it again.
We can't thank you enough for giving us the opportunity to do something joyful and something that the whole grade could experience together.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Stephina
This classroom project was brought to life by The Walt Disney Company and 7 other donors.Seniors Love Snacks!
Funded May 10, 2022Snacks are a healing offering we share with those we care for. Snacks awaken our minds and help us feel ready to take on any task.
We thank you for your kind offering of snacks at the end of the 2022 school year. Students embraced the offerings during their final presentations and final exams.
Students expressed joy and delight at the baskets of snacks made available to them from your donation.
We know that students felt joyful from the smiles on their faces after they gave their final presentations. We are so thankful for your contribution!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Stephina
Snacks for Seniors!
Funded Nov 11, 2021We were overjoyed to receive your generous contributions to our classroom.
Students snacked every day from November through February, totalling 15 weeks of snacks.
The best moments with the snack experience were as follows:
- Students had special celebration days with the snacks around (seen in the pictures was one of our end of 2021 celebrations).
- Students had snacks before class presentations to loosen the nerves (students holding hands with snacks around before they presented ideas to the Shark Tank).
- Students getting a snack after gym class or in the later class periods (our school lunch period is at 10:45am, so students get hungry by the end of the day).
We sincerely hope that you understand the joy brought by Snacks for Seniors. This experience was truly beautiful and we thank you for your gift and support of our upcoming high school graduates.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Stephina
Design Lab—Maker Space for Bronx Community Research Projects!
Funded Jul 10, 2018We are thrilled to start the 2018-19 school year with a newly organized Design Thinking space donated by YOU! Students walk in saying things like, "wow, this is really nice." And, "this classroom feels good." They seem to feel welcome and comfortable to the space that you have so kindly donated to.
The attached photos show how the design materials are available for students to access all day, and they also show one small way we've begun to use the materials to close read and identify social issues in current local issues.
In the coming months we will engage with the design materials to invent solutions to a giant Senior Capstone Research Project. I look forward to sending you updates over the course of the year so you can see what students create with greater access to design materials!
We expect students to come up with stronger inventions with free and unlimited access to paint, play dough, post its, fabric and design books that is now open to them on a daily basis (instead of locked away in a closet). Supporting this kind of access to materials is a small thing that will change the dynamic of our classroom overall!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Stephina
Fela in the Bronx with Students Live!
Funded Dec 19, 2015The project was executed with support from donors like you! Along with hands-on support from Amy Weinstein (CEO) and Jessica Fraser (Producer) from Students Live and Passport to Broadway, Steve and Ruth Hendel producers of Fela the Broadway play and Finding Fela the film, Ellen Jacobs, Fela coordinator, Martín Perna, Antibalas, and the teachers, students and principals of Bronx Academy for Software Engineering.
The project lasted for 9 days. The first four days comprised of lessons introducing students to the contemporary music that has sampled or borrowed from Fela's music, the historical setting surrounding the music (1970s -90s Nigeria), and the compositional styles and lyrical themes that make Fela's music new and exciting for those who may have never heard anything like it before. In the next four days we were delighted to share our classroom with Martín Perna, co-founder of world-renown afrobeat band, Antibalas. Martín taught us a more complex introduction to Fela's compositional elements and simple patterns on some essential instruments. For example, we learned patterns for the shekere, clave, cowbell, lap conga, and drumsticks. Woven, or interlocked together, the instruments made the coolest rhythms that we could maintain throughout a song. Next, Martín taught us how to make simple song lyrics about topics related to social issues in Fela's Nigeria.
On the final day, we turned our Dance Studio space into a beautifully decorated stage. We invited classes from the school to attend our performances of our songs, and we heard feedback from Martín, and from two performers from the Fela Broadway play, Danny Soto and Gabriela Garcia, also from Dr. Courtney Morris, educator at Penn State University, Kanuri Kelly from the South Bronx Drum and Music Academy and students from the BASE community.
The highlight of the event was DEFINITELY the performance. Our first big success was that we had an overwhelming number of students attend on a day where many students tend to cut (it was a scheduled half day). So from the start, it was a success because they showed up! From a post-performance survey, 50% of students said that getting on stage in front of their peers was the biggest challenge during the Friday performance. At the end, everyone received a rose. It was just beautiful.
From a post-performance survey, over 50% of students said they learned "a lot" about the elements of afrobeat music, 45% said they learned "a lot" about Nigerian history, and 42% said they "really enjoyed" the Fela Performance. When we showed the finalized video of the performance about two months after it took place, students were overwhelmed with laughter and joy. Students say things like, "that was the first time I ever played an instrument," or "that was the first time I ever got on stage," or they talk about the Zombie song. The overall lasting impact I believe will be that it was the biggest common experience that all the 10th grade had gone through together this year, so it turned out to be a greater bonding experience than I had expected.
Personally, it was the biggest project I had executed in my career up to this point. I dreamed up this project approximately 5 years ago after seeing the Fela play with Kelson, a senior teacher. He told me about seeing Fela in NYC in the 70s. Two years ago, I saw Finding Fela in theaters 5 times and took a bunch of colleagues to get them interested. Last year I went to a Fela Workshop at the Schomburg Center and that's where I met Amy.... And after countless emails, meetings and phone conversations, we made all it happen. I'm humbled and quite pleased with how the whole thing turned out. Thanks to family and friends who shared with us ♡ Ms. Fisher.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Stephina