Past projects 19
Books That Capture!
Funded Jan 22, 2020Thank you greatly for supporting the purchase of engaging, high quality books for our classroom. Students continue to dash to the book shelf with excitement when it's reading time. The students love the variety of genres too. As the students finish one book, they can't wait to dive into a new one. The enthusiasm is contagious. The room is cloaked in silence as these wonderful novels take the students to adventures far and near. Your donation made a huge and positive impact on the readers of our room!”
With gratitude,
Ms. R.
Find a Successful Spot and Succeed!
Funded Oct 2, 2019Thank you for the donations! Your generosity has greatly impacted our 5th grade language arts and social science classroom!
The Big Joe bean bags are such a hit - they seat two and the students usually use them to work on revising their DWD. Students place the weighted blankets over their lap and it's wonderful to see these students settle under their care.
The chair bands are also a great hit! What a fun and useful way to help those active students focus as they swing against the band.
Overall, your generosity has resulted in an inviting educational classroom in which students are happy, focused, and working!”
With gratitude,
Ms. R.
Nuggets of (Garden) Knowledge
Funded May 6, 2019The additional garden supplies have added greatly to help beautiful our campus! The garden stakes have already been put to use by securing a border that wraps around a row of beautiful drought tolerate plants. Bark has been placed in both emPathy Way and The Cedar This bark is helping to prevent weeds and hold in moisture so that we can save water. We were also able to purchase four trellises to hold up the the flowering vine plants in The Cedar.
Thank you so very much for your support of our attempts to beautify our school, help students learn about plants, and, mostly, to get hands in the dirt!”
With gratitude,
Ms. R.
Dirt Club Tools and Storage
Funded Mar 23, 2019Thank you greatly for supporting our students and our gardens! Because of you, we have a handy storage bin right outside the door full of helpful supplies. Students can now grab a trowel and some gloves and get into the dirt during recess or break time. We have our spray bottles full and ready to use with Neem Oil, Vinegar Weed Killer, Aphid Oil Getter, and Clove Oil Helper.
When I unpacked the boxes, the kids were jazzed! They especially loved the little red shovel. The students are also excited about the easy access to the tools they need to work in the gardens.. They are working as a team to pass out the mini Hula Hoes, gloves, and other garden tools.
Thank you again, donors, for helping to get the students' hands in the dirt! They love gardening and are learning so much about plants, pollinators, and gardening in general. Your generosity has made a positive impact on our garden projects. We are fortunate to have supporters like you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. R.
Merging Music & Messages
Funded Oct 8, 2018Thank you so very much for supporting the use of photography in our classroom. Photography is a modern art, that explodes with creativity from this younger generation. I look forward to tapping that creativity and challenging the students to add the captured moment with live music. I know my students are up to this difficult, but rewarding project. A picture tells a thousand words - and a picture with music - tells a thousand stories. Perspective shown through angle, lighting, contrast, subject, framing - the options are countless, and the end results - priceless. Again, thank you greatly for your support.”
With gratitude,
Ms. R.
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Arts Funder and 13 other donors.Our Classroom Rocks!
Funded Sep 6, 2018We have been having a great time using our new DonorsChoose items! Finally, the bean bags are able to support a learner with a clipboard instead of existing as flat forlorn puddles on the classroom floor. We are so very excited to explore our artistic side with the acrylic pens (rock art for the garden) and photo paper (a black and white study in Ansel Adams). As to the garden - a new hose that has already been put to use, greenery for the garden, and a trellis for each of our lovely climbing Star Jasmines. Bottom line, the kids are jazzed!
Thank you so much to all of the donators. You have made a wonderful difference in Room 40.”
With gratitude,
Ms. R.
This classroom project was brought to life by Neukom Family Foundation and 19 other donors.Reading ON!
Funded Aug 22, 2018Books! And not just any book, but one of the best adventure books on the planet for 5th graders! Thank you so very much for your support of this reading project. The brand new Gregor the Overlanders are lined up at the front of the class just waiting to be read. Students are excited to get their hands on this wonderful piece of literature. We will start reading next week, and the anticipation is tangible in the classroom. Your fast and generous donations are greatly appreciated by this lucky teacher!
With great thanks,
Ms. R”
With gratitude,
Ms. R.
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 15 other donors.Let's Grow This!
Funded Aug 22, 2018It's a long walk from my classroom to the garden. Each group of 34 students can make quite a bit of noise on that long journey - a journey that passes 6th grade, 7th grade, and lastly 8th grade classrooms. It's next to impossible to keep those energetic, dynamic, and friendly kiddos quiet for a walk the length of our big middle school. Except when you tell them that if they're not quiet, they won't go to the garden! Suddenly I was the most silent and cooperative 5th graders in the land! They LOVE the garden - exclaiming over the butterflies swirling over the birdbath, respectfully watching bees hum from flower to flower, gathering around the mint plant gently smelling its leafs. It's good.
The students beg to pick the tomatoes, and then are amazed how they taste different than the tomatoes from the store. A green salad was made out of arugula, cucumber, and basil. Students made a lemon dressing and then polished their plates clean. Students worked on language by finding nouns and verbs as they wandered the garden, and then put their writing skills to use by going back to class and adding adjectives and similes to create descriptive sentences. They've compared milkweed flowers to butterfly bush flowers, they've planted peas, and tasted chives. Simply, the kids are as busy as bees in this new wonderful place on our campus.
We still have so much to do - we have plans for a rain barrel and a composting station. We have bark to spread, pebbles to place, and pineapple guava to plant!
I can't thank you enough for the donations that made this beautiful garden grow into life!”
With gratitude,
Ms. R.
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 14 other donors.Grow Food Grow!
Funded Jun 15, 2018WOW! You would not believe the HUGE impact this project has had on our middle school! School started last week and already students have benefited greatly! The culinary class harvested arugula, Swiss chard, tomatoes, and cucumber. They then created and consumed a delicious garden to table salad. A group of intervention students planted peas and are now filled with anticipation as they wait for the little green sprouts to poke out in greeting. 100 fifth graders smelled lemon verbena and mint, sampled basil and chives, and cheered on a Monarch Butterfly caterpillar as it crawled up a Milkweed plant. Students have chatted on the bench under the old cedar tree - for which the garden was named, helped pull a few weeds, and respectfully watched bees buzz from cucumber flower to cucumber flower.
Building The Cedar Garden this summer was not easy - it was hot, time consuming, muscle hurtin' work. BUT the PAYOFF! Watching the kids as their eyes opened wide in delight as they saw, touched, and tasted our natural world surpassed what we dreamed of. The Cedar Garden is magical.
We are still working. We are building a trellis this week to support the peas the students planted. We also have plans for a rain barrel, a composting bin, and some benches for students and staff to rest upon, dream upon, and wish upon.
Thank you so very much for helping this beautiful project become real.”
With gratitude,
Ms. R.