Past projects 2
Community Service Resources!
Funded Aug 22, 2015Our students have completed community service hours by beautifying the Mojave High School campus and local community. In doing so, their community service requirement for the first semester has been fulfilled, and they are well on their way to completing hours for their second semester as well. Students learned valuable lessons about the type of trash found around their school and community, the value of cleaning up after yourself, and the impact people have on our environment. One of the most surprising and plentiful finds were bottle caps - casually discarded from both soda and water bottles alike. Students discussed the impact that this has on our local environment, and what they could do to change it. They also were able to explore the larger picture that each one of those caps represented an entire bottle that was simply used once, then discarded elsewhere.
While usually no one is thrilled at the thought of community service, stylish vests and durable gloves gave students an official look that intensified their enthusiasm. Providing them with the proper tools and support allowed them to fully focus - and even get excited - about the task at hand. During one project, students took so much pride in their work that they uprooted a grate to ensure that all trash was completely removed regardless of the difficulty in accessing it.
Students will continue to earn community service hours and help to be stewards of their community several more times this semester. This repeated effort will provide them sustainable means to complete their community service requirements, thus ensuring success in their guidance courses while also giving back to the community. Thank you so much for your contribution that makes it possible for our students to be successful.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Bock
Technology For Science!
Funded Jan 15, 2015First, let me start by offering many thanks for your donations, both from myself and my students! The laptops have been a vital part of my success as a first year teacher. I love bringing technology into my classroom and the addition of a set of functional laptops that are always in my classroom has made surveying students, writing lab reports, and doing virtual science labs possible in my classes.
My technology club students loved the ability to open up a computer, experience the replacement of RAM, see the internal components of a laptop and then add a battery and charger and watch the laptops come back to life. From there, they restored each computer with a new operating system and gained valuable and practical experience restoring old technology back to useful condition.
My students in the Chemistry classroom have enjoyed learning a new operating system and are all the more experienced because of it. In addition, the technology provided an avenue to use tools such as Nearpod, Google Forms, Google Docs, online research and pHet Simulations. This enriched their classroom experience and provided technology for students who otherwise did not have access to it.
In addition to technology, my classroom received a large periodic table that is posted on the wall for reference, a Mole poster providing intriguing facts about a complicated concept that makes learning it more accessible, magnets of elements which made learning about charge states of ions and the ionic compounds they form more hands-on and engaging, and a Chemistry Catch Ball that contains chemistry questions presented in a fun, kinesthetic manner to increase engagement. I use the ball at the end of class if we had extra time to engage the students in chemistry questions in a fun manner. This allowed students to reflect on their chemistry knowledge and throwing a ball around makes answering questions all the more fun and engaging. The ball was so successful this year, that many students could be found with the ball during down time in class or after class, reading questions, researching them and finding answers so that they were prepared to answer them when the class was using the ball for a class wide activity.
I can't thank you all enough for enriching the classroom experience that I am able to provide for my students. Unfettered access to technology is something that I believe to be vital in the education of today's students in order to be competitive when they reach the college and job market.
Thanks again.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Bock