Mrs. Chamberlain Engel's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 283

• Light-Up Art From the Heart

  Funded Sep 15, 2023

  Thank you so much for funding this project! Unfortunately, the Chibitronics LED stickers were no longer available on Amazon when the project was funded. I'm bummed that we weren't able to get them anymore, but I hope you don't mind that I used the money to buy resources for a different project we'll be working on soon: Rube Goldberg machines! With the funds, I purchased simple machine sets, pulleys, springs, rechargeable coin batteries, conductive fabric tape, circuit toys, motors, cutting mats, Cheetos for hungry kids, twine, and more!

  I hope you don't mind that I purchased different resources when I found out the Chibitronics stickers were no longer available. I plan to find a way to do a special request project for them sometime soon, but rest assured that the resources you helped provide will give my students the supplies they will need to create really fun Rube Goldberg machines. This is a project I've always wanted to give them, but I've never had enough simple machines on hand for them to use before. I have a feeling this project is going to be epic!

  Thanks again for your kind support!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by Infosys Foundation USA and 4 other donors.

• Service Learning: International Bike/Walk/Roll to School!

  Funded Sep 23, 2023

  Thank you so much for helping fund our project so we could support a great event, the 2023 International Walk Roll to School Day. With your support, we were able to provide snacks, drinks, stickers, balloons, temporary tattoos, decorations, a photo booth, and more to our students on October 4th! Everyone truly enjoyed the event, and my leadership students felt a sense of pride because they set up, ran, and cleaned up after the event. The photo booth and props were especially popular. In fact, my students were so amped after this event that they wanted to plan a Halloween movie night coming up in a few weeks. Our school doesn't always have all the school spirit we want it to, but when students take the lead and start creating fun events for their peers, I feel that we are making inroads toward creating a real school community! Thanks again for your kindness and generosity!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Allstate Foundation and 5 other donors.

• Sadly Paperless School

  Funded Sep 15, 2023

  Thank you so much for supplying our school with paper! We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief now for the time being. The good news is that our school accountability plan was approved and we should have our budget unlocked at the end of September. However, we would have been out of paper by now without your help.

  Because of your donation, our students have math problems to solve, historical documents to analyze, science experiments to document, and ELA passages to annotate. I can't imagine what would've happened if we had actually run out of paper. Unfortunately, our budget never seems to have enough money to buy the amount of paper we need to keep our students moving forward. We are beyond thankful that you stepped in to fill the gap. Thanks again!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

• Back to School Basics

  Funded Aug 29, 2023

  Thank you so much for providing these items for our middle school technology classroom! The library bins will help me keep my student journals organized for all my different classes. The microwave is a wonderful addition because I can now heat up my students' Cup o' Noodles for them when they're hungry. The geography game will allow my students to learn more about our big, beautiful world. The multi-charging cables are great to have on hand when students need to charge any device—all the different types of cables can be used with one USB. Last but not least, a teacher can NEVER have too many cleaning wipes and these arrived just before we completely ran out. Thanks again!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

• Back to School Basics and More!

  Funded Aug 26, 2023

  Thank you so much for donating these items to our middle school technology classroom. When I say students go through pencils at an unbelievable rate: I could almost believe there is some kind of pencil Bermuda Triangle vortex where the pencils go to escape chewing and potential destruction. The Instax film will help me snap photos of my students and be able to quickly give them a keepsake or post a photo on the walls. Some of my students come into class at lunch so it's nice having craft supplies that they can work on during lunch break. I broke out the Shrinky Dinks today; students decorated and cut out their creations, and tomorrow we'll bake and shrink them. Fun times!

  The art trays will make carrying supplies to our tables easier and quicker as well as help us return unused supplies quickly by the end of the period. The scrapers help remove extra hot glue when there are clumps on our table tops.

  Last but not least, thank you for the bug catcher. You would not believe how disrupted a class gets when someone spots a bug in the classroom. This bug catcher should allow me to catch those little critters and take them outside before they get screamed at and stomped on—all while minimizing the time they spend shrieking, running, and fussing in general.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by Ferrero U.S.A., Inc. and 3 other donors.

• Another Clicker Bites the Dust!

  Funded Sep 6, 2023

  Thank you so much for donating these CRUCIAL items to my classroom. My clicker started working the first week of school, so I've been having to stand behind my computer to advance the slides in my daily presentations. As you know, middle school students can be very hard to focus so when I have to leave the front of the room, they take it as an invitation to chat with their classmates. Having to regain their attention every few minutes is completely exhausting, so this clicker will let me regain my sanity and their attention at the same time!

  The Kleenex hand towels are a really convenient solution for spills in the classroom. Students can come and grab one from the box to clean up spilled water. We've even used them to clean up the ink from a destroyed pen. I don't even know what we'd do without enough paper towels in our class except have to live with a LOT of messes.

  Finally, I can't thank you enough for donating 5 cases of Nutrigrain bars to my classroom. When students arrive hungry because they missed breakfast or lunch, it feels terrible to tell them, "Sorry. I don't have any food for you." Having a stash of these bars allows me to give them to students without having to worry about spending my own money to get them a basic necessity. My pocketbook, family, and I very much appreciate your help in sharing the burden of providing snacks for 100 students. This is the one area where I can always use help, so a big HOORAY to you for helping us!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

• Art and Tech Intersect!

  Funded Aug 3, 2023

  Thank you so much for funding this project for Hummingbird robotics kits! They arrived today and I'm beyond excited to see what students can make with them. After my Pathfinders session with CodeJoy, I was easily able to build a robotic hand and a Mars rover with the kits. I didn't have to worry about wiring jumper wires, alligator clips, breadboards, servos, LEDs, and sensors into my projects. While it's good to understand circuitry, building circuits with breadboards is janky: they fall apart with little encouragement and can easily become disconnected. These kits lock the wires into place for a stable, reliable circuit. They are easy to use and will encourage students to learn how to code so they can make the best projects. Thanks again for your kind support!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by Infosys Foundation USA and 13 other donors.

• Climate Change Warriors!

  Funded Aug 14, 2023

  Thank you so much for supporting our climate change initiative as we try to go green at our school! With this weather station, students will be able to observe, gather data, and analyze the results of changes in soil, temperature, wind, humidity, and more. The phenomenon of climate change is evident when wildfires rage, waters rise, storm intensity increases exponentially, and droughts become worse. While it's easy to recognize the ill effects of climate change from watching the news, our students aren't always aware of these problems or don't recognize them locally unless we have Spare the Air days due to nearby wildfires. It's easy to forget that every person on the planet is being affected—and it's usually folks with the fewest resources who experience the brunt of the ill effects.

  Thanks again for helping us get this weather station and clipboards. I foresee a lot of great, practical learning and, hopefully, some newly minted climate change warriors to boot!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by National Corn Growers Association and 6 other donors.

• Make Our Day STEAMy!

  Funded Jun 29, 2023

  Thank you so much for donating these craft supplies, craft kits, books, and prizes to our classroom community. My middle-school students are just turning 13 or 14: They tend to struggle with anxiety, stress, depression, and other mental health challenges that often result in absenteeism, low self-esteem, and difficulty interacting with both peers and adults. My goal with this project is to teach students how to lower stress and anxiety by learning a new hobby. Studies show that adults with hobbies are able to better manage stress and anxiety, resulting in better mental and physical health. Young teens will have the same benefits if they can pick up a hobby now. With all of these crafts to choose from, I am certain I can help even the most truculent teens to give something new a try. Thanks again for your kindness to my students—I'm hoping they gain lifelong wellness skills in the process!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by Neukom Family Foundation and 16 other donors.

• Accentuate the Positive!

  Funded Aug 3, 2023

  Thanks for supporting my classroom incentive system with a new influx of cool prizes! Nothing motivates my students quite like snacks, games, and prizes. In fact, many of my students beg me to let them do extra tasks around the classroom so they can earn class bucks to buy the things you've helped provide to my classroom prize cart. They learn that they need to save up to buy the bigger items they want. They also learn that their efforts toward good behavior and good citizenship get rewarded. It's always nice to encourage them to be their better selves than to make them feel bad about themselves when they break rules. With positive reinforcement, I can encourage them to be the best version of themselves. Of course, middle schoolers will be middle schoolers, but encouraging effort and being positive allows me to keep a good relationship with almost all of my students. No one likes a nag: when I hand out bucks to a student who's doing the right thing, all the others notice and start doing it, too. Hooray for carrots! Thanks for your kind support–it truly makes a difference!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Chamberlain Engel

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 3 other donors.