Mr. Stuart's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 47

• No Time to be Bullied -- I'm Too Busy Reading!

  Funded Feb 3, 2012

  I can't express how awesome it is to have almost none of the books you donated on my classroom's shelves as I write this. As soon as I "booktalked" your donations and your willingness to fund projects that took a stand against bullying, I had a bevy of hands raised, clamoring to get first dibs on your new additions to our classroom library.

  I firmly believe that, thanks to the books you've donated, students will be both challenged and affirmed, either in their bully-friendly mentalities or in their own unique identifies. Furthermore, as students deepen their identification as readers of interesting, self-selected books, my students and I believe they will be less prone to bullying.

  Thank you for giving the gift of reading. You have made an investment in generations of students to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Stuart

  This classroom project was brought to life by ABC Family and one other donor.

• Opening the World Through Literature

  Funded Feb 5, 2012

  Your eagerness to trust my students with two classroom sets of complex texts has had a profound impact on my students. It was pretty humorous to have to regain my students' attention when, upon giving them the books you donated, they would not stop smelling them! That new book smell is one that I hope they will enjoy throughout their lives.

  Your donation to our classroom is unique because you gave books that most of my students would not voluntarily read. However, due to the support that I give the students, due to my explicit expectation that they are going to be confused and that good readers simply know how to recognize their confusion, and due to their growing awareness that perseverance and work ethic are key factors in lifelong success, students are already proving that they can handle the challenges presented by Things Fall Apart and All Quiet on the Western Front.

  It is truly amazing to see my rural students absorbed in a seminal piece of Nigerian literature; it's dumbfounding to see their faces read various emotions as they follow a German soldier through his experiences in World War I. Together, you donors have opened the horizons of my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Stuart

• Exploring World History through Beverages and a Book

  Funded Sep 5, 2011

  This letter is just a tiny token of my gratitude for the powerful generosity you have shown my students and I. The classroom set of Tom Standage's A History of the World in Six Glasses has provided a learning experience like none other my students have yet experienced. As we've read through these texts, my students have been faced with the most complex text they've yet faced; as a result, I am confident that they are on their way to being equipped for college- and career-level complex texts.

  As you know, budgets are tight in education these days, so your donation has literally been THE reason that my students can now picture world history in everyday beverages like Coca Cola and coffee. After finishing the book, my students commented about how fun it was to both learn and drink history (for example, they sipped on coffee while reading about its origins and its impact on the Enlightenment). Thanks to you, world history is alive and well in my classroom.

  Your generosity has made a difference in kids' lives; my students now and in the future thank you sincerely.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Stuart

  This classroom project was brought to life by Gap Inc. and 6 other donors.

• Mr. S.'s Students' "Most Wanted"

  Funded Nov 29, 2010

  My students and I can't thank you enough for the generous donation of high-interest books that you made to our classroom. For many of us, you have given more than books; you have given hope.

  Imagine the looks on my students' faces when I told them that people who didn't know them had donated hard-earned money. In doing this, you have literally paid the entry price for some of my students to enter the lifelong thrill ride of recreational reading. I wish you could have seen the crowd control I had to employ when I began introducing the books you helped purchase. Needless to say, we now have a waiting list set up!

  So thank you again. Your sacrifice is transforming young people from the ignorance of "reading is dumb" to the maturity of "reading can be enjoyable and rewarding." May the impact of your gift transform generations of students from non-readers into readers.

  Thanks so much.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Stuart

• Bringing the Bard to Life

  Funded Apr 11, 2009

       Thank you so much for your generous donation! Fourth quarter in our classroom was our best yet, largely due to the new copies of Romeo and Juliet that you purchased for us. Instead of simply reading through a beat-up class set of the play and then watching a movie, the students, using their personal copies, interpreted, directed, cut lines, and produced two scenes from the play. In so doing, they followed in the footsteps of Shakespeare himself and other directors that have done his plays over the past half of a millennium.

       With the school year winding down and our performance behind us, students have said that some of their older siblings and cousins are doing Romeo and Juliet in high school. What a confidence builder! My kids, most of whom have had some of the lowest test scores in the school in the past, now feel more confident that they can beat the statistics and become college graduates.

       At the end of their performances, students came out in a line and bowed before the fellow students and staff that came to watch. It is with a similar bow that I thank you for your generosity and faith.

      

   All the best to you.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Stuart

• Eight Much-Wanted Paperbacks for my 8th Grade Class

  Funded Feb 4, 2009

  I am already seeing the impact of your generosity. As soon as the box of books arrived, my students couldn't wait to merely gaze at the covers of these much-anticipated titles. Only one week after introducing the novels to my students and putting them into classroom library circulation, titles like Diary of a Wimpy Kid #3 and The Clique series are already switching hands as once-reluctant readers devour hundreds of pages per night. Students from around the school have begun coming to me asking for borrowing privileges for hot titles like Twilight and Ted Dekker's Circle trilogy.

  With your donation, you have contributed to a growing culture-shift in my school. Kids are not knocking down my classroom door for games or movies, but for books. Gift by gift, donors like you chip away at the anti-intellectual mentalities of mediocrity that plague our schools. Title by title, I am witnessing the miraculous growth of lifelong readers.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Stuart

• "Are There Any More Copies of The Outsiders?"

  Funded Oct 16, 2008

  I was humbled this morning to see an email from DonorsChoose.org with this subject: "You've been funded!" What a blessing it was for me to read that twenty copies of The Outsiders are being shipped to our school for the young minds in my reading and writing classes. You have helped purchase a novel that addresses matters close to the lives of my students: substance abuse, teen-on-teen violence, growing up, and the consequences of our actions. I will be praying that each copy you've helped purchase turns a child away from destructive decisions and towards life-changing literacy.

  You've blessed my students and I so much. I am so encouraged. Thank you--and God bless you abundantly.

  Gratefully,

  Dav”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Stuart