Past projects 58
Children Fidget! It's Not a Problem, It's What They Do!
Funded Aug 8, 2017You should have seen the students when these yoga balls, wiggle cushions and fidget bands arrived in our classroom! I do not think I have ever seen their faces so lit up! We immediately pumped up the yoga balls and stability seats with the pumps that came with them and everyone was happy to pitch in for this task.
We talked about why we thought these would be useful to us. Students discussed ways that the flexible seating options are used appropriately and what might be some ways that they should not be used. We all agreed that there had to be a level of responsibility maintained by students who used the balls as seats.
It has been a learning experience that just keeps getting better as the students adapt to using the seating and bands as tools to help them focus and not as toys. They have really risen to the responsibility! I really think that just seeing the yoga balls when they enter the room puts a smile on their faces. I can tell that the stability balls and wiggle cushions are doing their intended job as the students are not getting out of their seats quite as often as they did before.
We would like to thank all the donors who helped to make it possible for us to be able to explore the world of flexible seating in our classroom. We are really learning how to use them appropriately and they have truly brightened up our learning environment!
Thank you all, so much!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
How Does Our Garden Grow? Like Crazy!
Funded Jan 24, 2017Thank you so much for helping us get the garden supplies that we needed! It is really exciting that the students are so enthusiastic about working in the garden and we consistently need more dirt and pots! Our school year has come to an end but your generosity will continue to make our garden thrive while we are gone! The gardeners can't wait to come back in August to see how much the beans have grown! The gardeners enjoyed their experience so much they all asked me numerous times if they could still work in the garden next year eventhough they will be in different classes! Some of them took home some seeds to try at home this summer and promised to be on the look out for things that we can recycle and repurpose as pots! We have already made all kinds of plans for the Garden Part 2 for next year!
Thank you again, Ms. Katie, donorschoose and other donors - your generosity is so appreciated and I can guarantee you that your donation was money well spent for these students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
Snug as a Bug in a Learning Rug!
Funded Dec 16, 2016We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all our donors. Because of you, our reading areas have become much more welcoming and cozy. Turns out we were not able to get our map rug that we were looking forward to, but it very well may have been a blessing in disguise because as replacements we chose some small stackable stools for seating and we have been getting so much really good use out of them. These stools all stack up together when we put them away and take up no room at all - which is important in our small space and they are also very light and easy to carry and move around the room - and this portability makes them very useful. They are also very sturdy and the students simply love to grab a stool and have a seat wherever they want to sit! Really, we want to order some more! We also got two striped rugs that make it more homey and a big alphabet rug which makes such a big difference to the look and feel of our room. We are always astounded by the generosity of those who contribute to our projects on Donorschoose and we cannot thank you enough for everything you do to make our school days more fun, more engaging and more comfortable.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by Quill.com and 2 other donors.Gardening & Growing Together! Learning Skills for Life!
Funded Mar 13, 2016Thank you so much for the supplies that got us started on our fantastic gardening experience. With the supplies donated through this project we we able to begin to make our idea of a school container garden happen. It started with the little greenhouse that the students put together themselves and everything just continues to evolve and grow. The work table provides a great place for us to work to pot plants. We have already used all the pots and have been back to the store for potting soil many times over. The students can't wait for the Spring when I told them we could plant all of those seeds that we got. In the meantime, we have planted just a few that we are confident will make it through the winter months. Everything has been such a learning experience and every single day in the garden provides us with fascinating discoveries and wonders. The students come from different classrooms to work in the garden and it is our goal to get as many students into the garden this year as want to come to help. We have planted seeds and re-potted when they outgrew their space. With the variety of pot sizes received we are able to set out our plants in a way they can grow to maturity. This is a project that so many students are going to be able to enjoy. We have started small, but have big plans to grow and grow. Thank you again for what your donations have allowed us to achieve here in our beautiful garden.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by #BestSchoolDay and 2 other donors.The World is Better in Color! Help Us Get Printers and Ink!
Funded Mar 21, 2016Dear Donors!
We cannot thank you enough for helping us get a new color laser printer! A color printer is such a luxury that we just could not wait to get started creating beautiful work just so that we could print in color! We like to take a lot of photographs of our activities and of our work and having those pictures in color makes all the difference in the world. We are going to try to be very selective about what we print so that we can be sure to conserve the ink, but we really notice a big difference in our projects and displays! This printer is one of the only color printers in the school!
The bulletin boards just come alive now! What a huge difference it makes!
Thank you so much to all our donors and, as always, thank you so much to donorschoose.org!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by #BestSchoolDay and 3 other donors.Growing Vegetables Outside in Our Container Garden!
Funded Aug 29, 2016This garden project has just been amazing! Due to your generous donations we have been having more fun in our outdoor container garden than we ever could have imagined! We immediately set forth planting seeds in some re-purposed strawberry containers which worked perfectly to nurture our bean plants until they grew to a size that we could transfer to one of the garden pots supplied by the grant. The students love to put on the Donor-supplied aprons and head outside! Of course, the students wanted to plant everything right away, but we read up on the plants and chose a few that we have hopes will make it through the cold weather coming up. So far, we have planted kale, asparagus, beans and some marigolds. New discoveries are always so exciting when we first step into the garden after having been gone from it a day or two. We have already settled into a comfortable routine of getting straight to work and the students are very serious about their garden work. It is truly inspiring seeing these students so interested and so industrious. Your generous donations to our project have allowed us to begin our container garden that we will be able to sustain for many years to come. Thank you so very much.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by Target and 2 other donors.All The Right Tools!
Funded Dec 7, 2015We are the very fortunate recipients of 10 sets of very nice headphones with microphones. The headphones are extremely comfortable and now everyone is able to have a nice set to use. It is remarkable what a difference a substantial set of headphones can make. These are so comfortable, the sound is excellent and they block out distractions. The small coding group that started meeting in the library has really appreciated the new quality equipment to use. The microphones are good quality and are easily adjusted on the headset. We used to have to sometimes wait to use the headphones with the microphone and now there are plenty to go around for those who are adding sound to their projects. The Internet Safety class is working with the headphones and microphones to create some online Public Service Announcements.
Over and over, DonorChoose, Google, and all of the wonderfully donors have humbled us with their generosity. Every time we are fortunate to have a project funded we are so amazed at the incredible kindness of people who don't even know us but just want use to have the educational items we need to thrive. Thank you all so much for funding our project, we are very appreciative.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 3 other donors.Saving Money for Our Economic Wants in a Hand-Crafted Bank!
Funded Dec 2, 2015This has been such a fun project! We asked for and received gallons of paint, rigid-wrap plaster molding cloth, Mod-Podge gloss finish sealer, corks for plugs and a box of sponge brushes to paint with. The students have never used this type of art material before and the results are just astounding. Every time we return to the project, they can't believe how professional looking their art is turning out. We ordered some excellent and free economics resources from the Federal Reserve Banks in St. Louis and Cleveland. The two workbooks, "A Piggy Bank Primer" and "A Kid's Guide to Money" are the perfect economic accompaniment to our Piggy Bank art project. It is very hard to adequately thank the good and generous donors to our project, but we would like to thank you all from the depths of our hearts!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 3 other donors.Parachute For Fun and Learning
Funded Jan 20, 2015Thank you so much for your generous contributions to our project to acquire a parachute for our class. We were so happy to have our project funded so quickly - the students could not believe it and now think that donorschoose is a place that makes wishes come true! And they are not far off! We started playing with this parachute on the day that we received it. We took it straight to the gym and invited another class along and one of the elementary teachers showed everyone a few fun games to play with it. It is a challenge to coordinate the moves that enable the parachute to move in a smooth fashion - we are getting better at it! We have taken very good care of our parachute and we put it away in the carrying bag every time. It is still like new and now it is put away and ready for the students to use it next year. This will be a source of fun and coordinated teamwork for many years to come. Thank you again for everything you do to support teachers and students all over the United States. We are so appreciative and can not thank you enough.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by Zeist Foundation and 4 other donors.iPads to Transform Our Library Experience! K - 12 School!
Funded Oct 26, 2014We want to thank you so much for your tremendous generosity that allowed us to receive 2 iPad minis. When the students who help out in the Library came in that day and saw them they could hardly believe that people that they did not know contributed money so that they could have these to work with. Our students do not see a lot of technology this awesome at our school and I had to convince them that it was OK to just pick them up and use them when they needed to! The first thing we did was do some quick research on some apps we could use to inventory the books at the Library. We do not have a "media center" - we have a little Library and check-out is via the honor system. The ability to do an inventory of books by merely scanning the ISBN number has been - and will continue to be- an incredibly valuable tool for us. The students are having a blast doing the inventory - which is so simple. They are learning about the various categories and genres of books, name of major publishers, authors, and so much more. They really wanted to show the donors how they use the inventory program and they used one iPad mini to take photos of the other iPad mini using the inventory app. There is absolutely no way that we ever would have been able to have acquired this magnificent technology without Donorschoose and all the wonderful and extremely generous donors. We sincerely that you again and again for allowing us to experience such genuine learning - not to mention genuine joy!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by Zeist Foundation and 4 other donors.