Past projects 146
Filter Replacement To Help Clear The Air
Funded May 17, 2022Thank you for clearing up the air and giving us a recharged air filtration system. As you could see, the old and new filters looked quite different! With new filters to keep us stocked for the coming year, learning in my classroom can now take place with more confidence that we are removing pollutants and circulating air.
I feel so fortunate for wonderful people like you who have continued to prioritize students and public schools. Without your help our budgets, which even now our mayor is trying to cut, do not allow for things like air filters. Thank you for filling the gaps that our leadership leaves, and for valuing children when our elected officials do not. Please continue supporting great public education. We cannot do it without you!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Wolf
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 3 other donors.Filter Replacement Needed To Help Clear The Air!
Funded Dec 11, 2021Thank you for clearing up the air and giving us a recharged air filtration system. As you could see, the old and new filters looked quite different! With new filters to keep us stocked for the coming year, learning in my classroom can now take place with more confidence that we are removing pollutants and circulating air.
I feel so fortunate for wonderful people like you who have continued to prioritize students and public schools. Without your help our budgets, which even now our mayor is trying to cut, do not allow for things like air filters. Thank you for filling the gaps that our leadership leaves, and for valuing children when our elected officials do not. Please continue supporting great public education. We cannot do it without you!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Wolf
This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Cares and 4 other donors.Debunking Race & Creating Multicultural Unity Through DNA Sequencing
Funded Nov 11, 2021This past week has been my favorite of the year. For about a month now, students have been writing about their ideas of what is race, extracting their own DNA, and learning how to use the procedure to isolate a sequence they can compare. It has been exciting to see the changes happen. When we first started, over half of students said they though we would find evidence of race in their DNA, that theirs would be similar to others students with the same race, and different from those with different races. As they have gone through the process of comparing sequences and drawing out diagrams to show relatedness, the tune has changed. One of my most hard to impress students watched as we went through some of our comparisons, and I saw her visibly jump a bit in her seat as her eyes went wide. After class I asked her what happened, and she said "you know, I'm starting to think that race isn't real." It was an "A-Ha!" moment, and it was largely thanks to you.
Thanks to you we were able to send sequences for sequencing at an outside lab, and do far more than just look at other examples or talk about how race is not part of our biology. Students were able to look at this question in the most personal way, using their own DNA to test their ideas. When I first started doing this lab in 2008, I had a student who had similar reactions. When I saw him many years later, unprompted he reminded me about "that time we tested our DNA and I found I was more related to Chinese students than other Mexicans." There's nothing like leaving an impression as a teacher, and thanks to you, I've continued that tradition. Thank you for leaving a lasting positive impact on my students, helping them become critical thinkers, questioners, and pursuers of truth. You've inspired them, and me as well.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Wolf
This classroom project was brought to life by General Motors and 2 other donors.Here's a Bright Idea: Better Bulbs For Healthier Plants
Funded May 7, 2021It is spring, and it is time again for planting outdoors! Here in NY, it is still too cold to directly sow lots of crops like tomatoes, or herbs like cilantro. Our plant cart is now upgraded with the lights you generously donated, and they are installed and ready. We began with seeds of plants students chose - sunflowers, herbs, cilantro, squash, and we are hopeful that as the weather warms, we can move more and more of them out into our planter boxes in the school yard, and even students' homes. Thank you for this upgrade which is going to keep paying dividends and growing green thumbs for years to come!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Wolf
"Say Cheese?" How About, "Say 茄子 (Qiézi)!"
Funded Jan 25, 2022A picture speaks a thousand words, so I will let the uploaded photos do some of the talking for me. Your generous camera donation has been put to immediate use in our class, and has been met with much excitement from the students. Already, we are getting fantastic professional-looking images of our DNA extraction activity. As you can see from the images, they are sharp, able to foreground the subject and blur the background, and just overall beautiful. The ability to take beautiful pictures has inspired LOTS of photos to get taken in just one day. This camera is going to be a regularly available tool when we do labs. Students are capturing memories, but also learning. They will be able to visit and revisit these photos as students make sense of the activities they are doing and begin writing their graduation-level projects. Thank you for giving us this amazing tool for capturing the content, but most importantly the joy of our school days.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Wolf
Hardworking Students Deserve a Snack, Part 1
Funded Dec 31, 2021Our weekly snack-time tradition has continued strong these past weeks because of your generosity. This past Wednesday, the week before a vacation when focus can be at a low point, it was clear that just an hour before lunch, our students needed something to fuel them through that last morning class. It was then that we reached for the snacks you donated.
It's easy to chalk students not focusing or being silly up to them not liking a lesson, or being sassy. In reality though, students want to do well, and they also want to be loved and respected. A bag of potato chips or a granola bar go a long way towards both. Like we've been doing and hope to continue doing for many weeks to come, the solution can often be as simple as sating an appetite and showing you care. It's a lesson I learned from my grandma Dotty a long time ago that sometimes you just need a knosh, and it's just as true today. Thank you for making it possible for us to serve our students in a way they need most. Please spread the word about our snack projects - we go through them quickly, and there's a lot more of the school year to go. Stay well and thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Wolf
This classroom project was brought to life by #TeachHealthy with Nature Made and 7 other donors.A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Birds (and Insects, and Plants...)
Funded Jul 20, 2021What a fun semester this has been so far. I have been spending time with my students outdoors collecting and identifying plants, and watching birds. The best part of it all has been seeing my students in-person and hearing the cacophony of excitement that can only come from a group of people all in the same place. So far, they have curated an herbarium of local plants, and now we are turning our attention to birds. The photos from this camera have been uploaded to eBird and iNaturalist, where they serve as a record of biodiversity in our neighborhood. At the center of it all has been the camera you donated.
This camera has had the unintended consequence of revealing students' excitement about one another just as much as their excitement about nature. Sure, they take a lot of selfies and photos of their friends along the way, but I can say with confidence though that they are just as excited to be learning about Blue Jays, Smartweed, or flocks of geese. This is a tool a lot of students want to use, and they love the power it gives them to record their experiences. Thank you for empowering them to be better naturalists and making them feel powerful after a year of it being hard to find those feelings.
Happy holidays and all the best in the new year.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Wolf
This classroom project was brought to life by Emerson Collective.Hardworking Students Deserve a Snack
Funded Nov 12, 2021Our weekly snack-time tradition has continued strong these past weeks because of your generosity. This past Wednesday, relatively early in the morning, the day before a vacation when focus can be at a low point, it was clear that one of our classes of students needed something to fuel them until lunch time. It was then that we reached for the snacks you donated.
It's easy to chalk students not focusing or being silly up to them not liking a lesson, or being sassy. In reality though, students want to do well, and they also want to be loved and respected. A bag of potato chips or a granola bar go a long way towards both. Like we've been doing and hope to continue doing for many weeks to come, the solution can often be as simple as sating an appetite and showing you care. It's a lesson I learned from my grandma Dotty a long time ago that sometimes you just need a knosh, and it's just as true today. Thank you for making it possible for us to serve our students in a way they need most. Happy holidays, and a wonderful new year!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Wolf
Keep Us Healthy and Hydrated
Funded Oct 20, 2021Thank you for your donation to give my students reusable water bottles. Since distributing the bottles, students have been seen with fewer single use bottles and more often with their reusable ones. These bottles also were the launch of a discussion on how much money they were spending on disposables. It was a surprising amount for many students - upwards of $10 a week and a lot of plastic thrown in garbage cans.
Students were able to customize their water bottles with markers and stickers, giving them sense of ownership and pride that will hopefully last the whole year long and beyond. Thank you for this simple tool to make my students' lives easier and more sustainable.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Wolf
The Power Of A Classroom (Tower) Garden
Funded Jul 20, 2021Wow, am I excited! The last few weeks, a few dedicated students and I have been breaking down and rebuilding our tower garden using the components you donated. Our next step in the process is to begin planting a nursery of seedlings that will go into the now larger, sleeker, and more energy efficient garden! I've been surveying my students about the types of plants they are interested in, and it looks like we are going to need to become experts in herbs like basil, cilantro, and parsley. After a year as a storage closet, our classroom was a bit of a blank slate coming into the year, but now it is finally beginning to take shape as a place where thinks are being built and improved, plants are growing, and it is a source of pride for the students and I. Thank you for making our classroom a friendlier and hopefully healthier place!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Wolf
This classroom project was brought to life by Emerson Collective and one other donor.