Past projects 8
College Signing Day 2018! Making Dreams Possible!
Funded Apr 30, 2018It is with a full heart and boundless appreciation that I thank you for funding this project. The college application process from start to finish is an emotional one. It is a rollercoaster to say the least and some times, in the making of decisions, evaluating financial packages and facing fears, the celebrations get pushed aside. You have enabled me to be able to give my students a moment to reflect, a moment to take in the fact that they have done something that many doubted possible and you have given me the chance to create a bit of time and ways to celebrate their achievements. Thank you. I appreciate each cent and your belief in my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Dowding
Save Our Essays! Flash Drives for All!
Funded Jul 22, 2011Thank you. Your generous donation has gone into direct and active use at my school. The flash drives that you funded have already saved college essays, a collection of resumes as students begin to go out to internships throughout New York City, class papers, and portfolios of photographic artwork used to win a scholarship. Working in a high-need school and area of New York City, and with the budget cuts we have faced in the past year, I would not have been able to provide these for my students and they would not have been able to to do this for themselves. It is through your gifts and kindness that we can do what we do.
My students and I thank you and want you to know what a huge impact this is on our lives.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Dowding
This classroom project was brought to life by Gap Inc. and 3 other donors.Flip to It: Filming our Stories
Funded Dec 24, 2010It is with gratitude, appreciate and a deep thanks that I write to you. Your generosity brought a Flip Camera to not only my classroom but directly to student hands. This camera is easy to use, plugs straight in to the computer through a USB, and makes film-making and story telling easy, fun, and without hassle to my students. Throughout our school, educators have used this camera and the students feel comfortable with it and embrace this technology.Since receiving this camera one student borrowed it and filmed another student reading a memoir of her feelings about her mother's death to an audience of 100 as part of Girls Write Now. Through this recording we have been able to motivate other girls to join this organization as well as show others this powerful moment. Another student borrowed it and used it to make a short film as part of a blog he was putting together about the Cold War. I recently took 12 students to Washington D.C. for a week to learn about U.S. History and Civics. The camera was brought and used by students to record their experiences through a video journal to share with the students and for teachers to use in their classes. This summer, I will be working with students to film alumni from our school to relate their college experiences to put on our website to help other students with college and career readiness.
It is through your support that I can do the work that I do. Thank you on behalf of my students, myself and my school.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Dowding
This classroom project was brought to life by American Express Members Project and 2 other donors.A Work Of Art... Straight Off The Printer!
Funded Mar 29, 2011Thank you so much. I want to thank you for your generosity, your kindness, and your support not only for this project but for your commitment to education and the arts as well as the work that we do at my school. You funded a ton of photo paper that combined with a previous donorchoosed photo printer and an incredible collection of picture frames and mattes. All of this has patiently waited throughout the winter till this moment. Through your funding- and encouragement and support and kind words- we are now enthusiastically unpacking all of this and putting together a collection of photographs that my students have taken over the course of this year. In Photography class yesterday, my colleague, the students and I opened everything up, and framed the student work. It is almost breathtaking at how just a quality photograph on nice paper from a quality printer, combined with a frame and a matte, can make an impact but watching the students sit back and see their work displayed in this professional way did just that. The impact is the puff of the chest, the straightening of the shoulders and that glimpse of a smile that the students reacted with as they took in their work in this way. My Photography class is an elective but it provides and opportunity for students in their day to express themselves and communicate in a new way. Over the course of the year, we have photographed NYC neighborhoods to study the elements that make a place unique. Students worked in teams to document the people, fashion, work, movement, food, interactions, and housing of Queens and Manhattan neighborhoods. We have worked to photograph identity in these neighborhoods as well as in our own lives doing self-portraiture and portraits of "belongings" and the meaning and memories that objects can carry with them. Students have experimented with angle and color and have worked to lend their voice and vision to their work in interpreting the world around them and hold on to fleeting moments. It is with a huge amount of excitement to tell you that next week we will be having an exhibition in Manhattan of these photographs. You supplied that paper to make these photos come off of the computer and into a piece of art that can hang on a wall. I think everything looks incredible. This would have been so difficult to do without your support. From my students and I, thank you.
”
With gratitude,
Ms. Dowding
A Work of Art... Straight Off the Printer!
Funded Jan 4, 2011Thank you so much. I want to thank you for your generosity, your kindness, and your support not only for this project but for your commitment to education and the arts as well as the work that we do at my school. You funded an incredible photo printer and ink that have patiently waited throughout the winter till this moment. Through your funding- and encouragement and support and kind words- we are now enthusiastically unpacking that printer as well as mattes and frames in order to prepare a collection of photographs that my students have taken over the course of this year. In Photography class yesterday, my colleague, the students and I opened everything up, and printed and framed the student work. It is almost breathtaking at how just a a framed printed photograph on such a beautiful printer can make an impact but watching the students sit back and see their work displayed in this professional way did just that. The impact is the puff of the chest, the straightening of the shoulders and that glimpse of a smile that the students reacted with as they took in their work in this way. My Photography class is an elective but it provides and opportunity for students in their day to express themselves and communicate in a new way. Over the course of the year, we have photographed NYC neighborhoods to study the elements that make a place unique. Students worked in teams to document the people, fashion, work, movement, food, interactions, and housing of Queens and Manhattan neighborhoods. We have worked to photograph identity in these neighborhoods as well as in our own lives doing self-portraiture and portraits of "belongings" and the meaning and memories that objects can carry with them. Students have experimented with angle and color and have worked to lend their voice and vision to their work in interpreting the world around them and hold on to fleeting moments. It is with a huge amount of excitement to tell you that next week we will be having an exhibition in Manhattan of these photographs. The printer you donated is making this possible. I think everything looks incredible. This would have been so difficult to do without your support. From my students and I, thank you.
”
With gratitude,
Ms. Dowding
Every Picture Tells A Story
Funded Dec 18, 2010Thank you so much. I want to thank you for your generosity, your kindness, and your support not only for this project but for your commitment to education and the arts as well as the work that we do at my school. You funded an incredible collection of picture frames and mattes that have patiently waited throughout the winter till this moment. Through your funding- and encouragement and support and kind words- we are now enthusiastically unpacking those frames and matting a collection of photographs that my students have taken over the course of this year. In Photography class yesterday, my colleague, the students and I opened everything up, and framed the student work. It is almost breathtaking at how just a frame and a matte can make an impact but watching the students sit back and see their work displayed in this professional way did just that. The impact is the puff of the chest, the straightening of the shoulders and that glimpse of a smile that the students reacted with as they took in their work in this way.My Photography class is an elective but it provides and opportunity for students in their day to express themselves and communicate in a new way. Over the course of the year, we have photographed NYC neighborhoods to study the elements that make a place unique. Students worked in teams to document the people, fashion, work, movement, food, interactions, and housing of Queens and Manhattan neighborhoods. We have worked to photograph identity in these neighborhoods as well as in our own lives doing self-portraiture and portraits of "belongings" and the meaning and memories that objects can carry with them. Students have experimented with angle and color and have worked to lend their voice and vision to their work in interpreting the world around them and hold on to fleeting moments. It is with a huge amount of excitement to tell you that next week we will be having an exhibition in Manhattan of these photographs. The frames and mattes that you donated will display this work. I think everything looks incredible. This would have been so difficult to do without your support. From my students and I, thank you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Dowding
This classroom project was brought to life by Wells Fargo and 15 other donors.Documenting Our Lives: A Photographic Journey
Funded Aug 9, 2010Photography has long been a passion of mine and sharing this passion with my students, and being able to open a world of documenting and storytelling, is something that I am grateful for and find inspiring. It is also inspiring to me that people like you care deeply enough about arts education and meeting the needs of young adults to donate so generously to my classroom. Thank you.
My class is an elective course and we lack the funding to adequately supply enough materials for the students. Your donations enabled cameras, and quality ones at that, to be placed directly into the hands of my students and for them to learn f-stops and apertures as well as framing and visual literacy. With that said, let me just go on to say that they are natural pros. I have been awed at their talent and enthusiasm for photography. This fall we have gone to see various gallery shows in Chelsea, to see the Lee Freelander show at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and have photographed Flushing, Queens, the High Line, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, the Meatpacking District, Grand Central Station and the Upper East Side. For most of the students in my class, this has been the first time they have visited museum exhibitions and galleries devoted solely to photography and the first time they have been to these neighborhoods. These supplies have not only opened worlds to my students in terms of creative expression but have allowed them to explore their city from a new perspective.
In the simplest terms, thank you. It is wonderful to be able to do the work that I do and my students have directly benefited from your gift. They appreciate it as do I. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. Dowding
Unlocking the Mysteries of College
Funded Sep 1, 2010Thank you for your generous donation and with your help our school now has a college reference library where students can come and research, explore, and learn more about colleges, life at universities and the application process. Since the students at my school are all recent immigrants these books have been invaluable in helping students learn their options for life after graduation and for their futures.
With your help, and the books that you funded through your donation, I have watched students come in to the college office and sit and smile. This has ranged from a young woman from China looking to go to a university in upstate New York and spent an afternoon reading about statistics and facts about what is needed for admissions to various schools to a young man from Colombia who came in one morning to check out a book on Latinos experiences in colleges to see what others like him have gone through. These books have not only assisted me in doing my job but have helped students making one of the key important decisions of their lives. Thank you.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness and support. These books will move with me this year as I move from working with the 12th grade to introducing college readiness to the 9-11th grades. They will help to flesh out the world of U.S. colleges and universities for my students who are often so daunted by the process and navigation of getting ready and applying to college. Thank you for your support that continues to give.
I, and my students, appreciate your help, your kindness, and your generosity. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. Dowding