Mrs. Chamberlain Engel's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 283

• Scholastic Students!

  Funded Sep 9, 2015

  Thank you so much for giving a yearlong class set subscription to Junior Scholastic magazine to our Journalism class! Our students have been digging into the magazines to jump-start their ideas about the world and how to write about it. They were particularly inspired by the recent article "Classroom Crusaders," about students who have changed their schools (for example, the dress code, history curriculum, lunch menu, or school start time) with their activism.

  Since our Journalism class doesn't have a textbook, this magazine is an incredibly useful starting point for teaching about current events and also provides valuable mentor text examples. Thanks again for providing us with this important resource!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

• Save Us From the Sniffles!

  Funded Mar 31, 2015

  Thanks to you, we now have a year's supply of tissues, pencils, hand sanitizer, as well as a utility cart to help us with our fundraising efforts! We put these supplies into use right away!

  I love the fact that when a student asks for a pencil (even if it's everyday), I can say, "Sure. Take one any time!" By eliminating the worry about being called out in front of their peers for forgetting their supplies, I can try to reduce the chance that they will skip class, give up, or become defiant.

  So thank you again for your support: My students are happy to have clean hands, healthy noses, and a pencil to write with!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

• Journalism Needs a Jump-Start From Chevron Fuel Your School!

  Funded Oct 14, 2014

  Thank you so much for your very generous donation to our classroom. Because of your support, our 7th and 8th grade journalism students were able to create a student newspaper for the first time in many, many years. They learned a lot from this experience, and not just about writing, editing, and how to use technology.

  Using our wonderful new iMac, they learned how to search effectively, create and share documents using Google Docs, and work on a layout in Microsoft Word. They cited sources, created bar charts, and imported print-quality graphics. In addition, they gained a lot of "soft skills," including how to recover from having the copy disappear from the layout when you're on deadline! They rolled with the punches, persisted, and worked as a team to accomplish a common goal.

  Each and every student who participated in creating our newspaper felt proud of their work, which is a feeling that some of them don't experience very often. Your support gave them an opportunity to shine, so please accept our humblest thanks.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

• Painfully Printer-Less!

  Funded Aug 2, 2014

  Thank you so much for donating the all-in-one printer to our classroom. It is absolutely wonderful!

  I can now copy notes for students who were absent, scan student work to keep and display, and make copies when necessary on the fly. Although we are still waiting for our school district to add print capability to our Chromebooks, we are hopeful that, when it's added, students will be able to print their papers and other work products in our classroom.

  Students are currently designing a logo for our school newspaper, and we will be able to scan it and import it into our documents because of this scanner/printer.

  Thank you so much for supporting us!!!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

• Presentations Unleashed!

  Funded Aug 24, 2014

  Thank you so much for the easel and podium! Both contribute greatly to student success in giving presentations. The podium helps students fidget less and gives them a place to put their notes. It not only helps calm their nerves while they're speaking, but it also helps them stand up straighter and project their voices to the back of the room. It really is quite remarkable how much this podium helps them focus and improve their speeches and presentations. The chart stand is also a helpful aid to students who are presenting their classwork with partners and groups. Thanks again for helping our students succeed!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by Gates Foundation Back To School and 7 other donors.

• Books for Teens

  Funded Mar 26, 2014

  Thank you so much for your generous support of our 8th grade English classroom. Students were very excited to receive the boxes of high-interest books from AKJ Books. They immediately started browsing the different titles they wanted to read. Several students have checked out books and are reading them at home. Next year, I intend to give the students weekly opportunities for silent reading during class, when they can choose any title from the collection and read at their own pace. Studies show that students who can pick their own books based on their interests are more engaged in reading than students who are assigned books to read. Again, thank you so much for your kind donation to our class!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

• iPad For The Environment!

  Funded Mar 26, 2014

  We love our iPad mini! Students have been using it to research Holocaust-related topics for our end-of-the-year "Diary of Anne Frank" research projects. Because of your generosity, we now have a 7th electronic device in our classroom that students can share and use to support their learning.

  Although we got the iPad too late in the year to launch the recycling and green campaign, I still intend to use it to bring awareness of the importance of creating sustainable habits with our students next year. My new journalism class will be able to use the iPad to create the sustainability campaign as well as write about it in the school newspaper.

  Again, I cannot thank you enough for your generous support in giving our Bulldogs the resources they need and deserve. You're the best!!!!!!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by 100 Women in Hedge Funds and 6 other donors.

• Itchin' for iPads: Multiculturalism in Action!

  Funded May 9, 2013

  Thank you so much for donating the iPad to our classroom! I have mainly been using it to help some of my students with disabilities to do voice recording for their writing. I have many students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and other language processing difficulties. Using the Dragon Dictation app, students can speak into the iPad and dictate their essays. Instead of being faced with an impossible chore, students are able to gain confidence in their ability to communicate their ideas. In addition, they can see what their writing looks like and make the connection between the spoken and written word.

  I have had difficulty getting our district to connect our devices to the Internet, but once that is taken care of, we will also be able to use the iPad to conduct research and inquiry-based projects on multicultural topics. The students and I are very excited to get this device connected and being used every day.

  Thanks again for your support!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by JP Morgan Chase and 8 other donors.

• Civil Rights and Multiculturalism with Chromebooks!

  Funded Jun 19, 2013

  My students and I are so grateful for your donation of 4 Google Chromebooks to our classroom. The good news is that all 4 Chromebooks arrived to our classroom. The challenging part of the equation has been getting them connected to our network so students can actually use them to conduct research about multicultural topics. I had planned many activities and inquiry-based webquests for student groups to research, but unfortunately, we are still waiting for our district to give us Internet access. As soon as I can get these machines connected, I will get them into students' hands so they can begin using 21st century technology at school.

  Thanks again for all of your support!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by JP Morgan Chase and 6 other donors.

• Supply-Challenged Classroom Needs Your Help!

  Funded Oct 29, 2013

  Three big boxes of supplies arrivied at our doorway today and already our classroom has changed for the better! All these great supplies are available in the classroom now and available for students to use every day. New staplers, hole punches, sticky notes, hand sanitizer, and dry erase markers are items that help all students get work completed more quickly and efficiently.

  Students were very happy to see that we now have top-of-the-line Puffs Plus with lotion to use instead of the sandpaper-grade variety we can infrequently liberate from the school's supply room. Our entire school has $900 left in its supply budget for the rest of the year, so it would have been impossible for me to get any of these supplies without your help. My students and I send you our deepest thanks!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by Quill.com and 7 other donors.