Past projects 2
Multilingual Reading Motivation
Funded Oct 17, 2024This project was all about learning to communicate, but I find myself at a loss for words. Your contributions have been more important than I can say!
When I show off our English for Everyone dictionaries during library instruction sessions and say "these are my favorite books," my students always say "miss, you're joking." As soon as they open the books, though, they realize I'm serious. These books are so coveted that students ask how they can buy a copy. They take photos of the most important pages. They cluster around the books and show off their favorite foods and future jobs, asking each other "what do you call this where you're from?" They immediately absorb new words and have the most beautiful conversations using them.
Students don't expect to have fun with the dictionaries, but they do know they're having fun when they get to use many of the other donated supplies. Students helped install the LED strand in the fireplace, and it's brightening our evenings when the sun sets at 4:30 PM and our evening classes dismiss after 8:00 PM. I love surprising students with stickers they can choose from when they return all of their books. And the button maker has become the honorary president of our book club, allowing students to press buttons of their own design or from the limited edition themed buttons we create to honor the texts we've chosen. The library has truly come to life.
With 2025 on the horizon, it's a great reminder that we can always start fresh. Look at the world through renewed eyes. Find unexpected joy. Share a new word. You never know how far it will take you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Altvater
Keep Our Library Cozy and Clean!
Funded Oct 8, 2024As 2024 draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your kindness. Admittedly, this project is a hard sell among so many others, especially those with much more fun items. Who knows a student who is eager to receive an air purifier or buckets of disinfectant wipes?
The fact of the matter is, even these "not so fun" items play a massive role in our library and in our school at large. Cleaner environments help students stay healthy. Healthy students have higher attendance. Higher attendance leads to greater learning outcomes. And with those outcomes, our students are graduating as highly prepared young adults.
Many of our students are new to the country and have severely interrupted educational careers, so they're learning how schools work as well as trying to find themselves. Cleaning supplies help me show them what it means to have respect for our space, and more importantly, that I respect them as learners and individuals. They know that there is dignity in our library.
Your contributions made all of this possible.
Have a happy, healthy holiday season!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Altvater
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Supporter and 12 other donors.