Past projects 3
Stop the Press(ur)es!
Funded Feb 19, 2025When we jumpstarted the journalism program at our school this year, we knew we needed to create a place set apart from the rest of the educational spaces on campus. A space that would become an arena for authentic and honest student voice. Your funding of this project makes that possible for us and for that we are all so thankful. We can't wait to transform the newsroom.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Chrestay
Help Our Club Play the Fastest Game on Earth
Funded Mar 24, 2014I can't thank you enough for the speed and strength of your support. Thanks to your generosity our table tennis club is routinely serving 20-30 students after school, making it one of our most well-attended clubs. This is a relief, because before we added these two new tables my students were growing impatient while they waited to play. Now, games move quickly and the wait isn't as long.
Since they get to play more often, my students are making leaps and bounds in their game. We're planning our first tournament, and we hope to invite neighboring schools to ours to compete. Without these new tables, this would not be possible.
I've written before about how important I think clubs are. They are the social draw to school for so many kids who would otherwise feel no excitement about this place. For this reason, I think it is crucial that we make a point to prioritize after-school activities, especially in a world that is increasingly less concerned with educating the student as a whole. Thank you so much for helping me keep my priorities straight.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Chrestay
This classroom project was brought to life by AT&T Foundation and 18 other donors.There Is More Than One Way to Burn a Book
Funded Aug 8, 2013I cannot thank you enough! From the moment the boxes of books arrived at my school through today (the final day of our unit on short story) I have been aglow from your generous and important help. The unit we are just now finishing was designed to present new genres of fiction and to teach my students to read and discuss and argue and learn together, in small reading circles. Now, at the end of it, I can give you some of their feedback.
One of the most frequent comments I received this month was something like "This is crazy! This guy is crazy!" Maybe not the most insightful comment ever uttered in my classroom, but certainly true. When I read Bradbury's stories as a college student, they provoked in me a sense of wonder I hadn't felt since elementary school. It should not be the case that fiction becomes less imaginative as we age. In addition to the comment on Bradbury's craziness, I've been interested and pleased to hear students asking each other if they would or could make the same decisions as some of the characters in Bradbury's stories. It has always been a goal of mine to teach my students to empathize. It isn't always easy to empathize with real people in this real and imperfect world, but if I can teach them to empathize with characters in a story, I believe they can transfer those skills to the real world more easily. Finally, the last, and maybe the most common thing my kids have asked this month has been "Why did they give money to us?" My students are baffled by the fact that so many people would give so much money to kids as strange and as far away as them. And, to be honest, so am I. Your generosity has done more than just provide books to my class. It has given us an opportunity to discuss the good in human nature and a chance to ponder the fact that you all gave to a classroom that is not in your neighborhood and does not serve your children.
In his collection "I Sing the Body Electric!" Bradbury says "We are the miracle of force and matter making itself over into imagination and will. Incredible. The Life Force experimenting with forms. You for one. Me for another. The Universe has shouted itself alive. We are one of the shouts." Thank you so much for being one of the shouts that has helped my class come alive this year.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Chrestay