Mrs. Hirschmiller's Classroom Edit display name

Current requests

Past projects 183

• Spring into Science STEM Style

  Funded Feb 21, 2025

  I can't thank you enough for your incredible impact on student learning this spring! I was over the moon excited when this project funded and began planning my lessons immediately. The students were beyond excited when the caterpillars arrived and they just couldn't get enough information about them. I wish you could see how much time the spent in the science centers and in the classroom reading and gathering more information about this fascinating insect and the life cycle of the butterfly.

  The students immersed them selves in butterfly artwork, and kept journals and carefully drew pictures and added details to document the changes they were seeing in the caterpillars every day. Each new stage brought a fresh wave of excitement, enthusiasm and pure wonder. The students became budding entomologists, and the science center became the hub of all activity in the classroom. It was amazing to watch the students draw comparisons between frogs, which we learned about in our recent musical performance, and butterflies. The connections they have made are wonderful to see, and the vocabulary they are learning is rich and transferrable to many other science studies.

  There were many times throughout this journey that the students reminded me to tell you, the classroom angel that made this learning possible, thank you-so I am very excited to share our progress now and extend not only my gratitude to you, but also the gratitude of the students who have learned so much as a result of your kindness. Thank you so very much!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Hirschmiller

• Artists Need to Create a Set for Their Musical Performance

  Funded Feb 17, 2025

  The student's musical performance was magical! Parents were smiling, students beamed with pride, and everyone enjoyed the day.

  The amount of work that lead up to the big performance was immense. The students dove deep into the science and learned so much about nutrition and how all living creatures need food to survive. The learned all about herbivores and carnivores, and how an animal's diet relates to wether the are a predator or prey. The animals featured in this play were frogs, monkeys, elephants, lions, and crocodiles.

  As we learned about the diet of each animal, we used the astrobrights paper you sent to create artwork for that animal. Those art pieces later became the decorations for the set. After all the animals were represented in art, we hung them on the stage, and throughout the multipurpose room to create a beautiful background to highlight the student's hard work and musical talent. The streamers added flair to the animal art work and helped to bring the stage decorations together. I really wish you could have seen the performance, it was absolutely adorable, and you played a HUGE role in that with your generosity and donation to the materials in this project. Thank you so much!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Hirschmiller

• Creativity Starts With STEM

  Funded Mar 25, 2025

  The learning and growth that occur when students have the opportunity to participate in STEM learning are simply unmatched. Social skills, communication and collaboration, math, science, engineering, creativity and innovation, problem solving and leadership, I could go on and on! Thank you so very much for bringing these important opportunities to these students! I am excited to tell the students how you wanted them to have these rich learning experiences so much that you made this project happen for them. Thank you so much for your incredible support.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Hirschmiller

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 5 other donors.

• We Need Costumes For Our Musical

  Funded Mar 25, 2025

  Thank you for your incredible support to make this musical performance special for these little learners. I can’t emphasize how excited they are to perform their songs and dances, and I can’t even imagine how much more joy will fill their little hearts when I tell them how you sent costumes their way to make this musical even better! Thank you so much for your generosity, for your kindness, and for your efforts to make learning special for these students.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Hirschmiller

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 2 other donors.

• Community Service Mission: Spread Kindness

  Funded Feb 24, 2025

  I’m so moved by your incredibly supportive kindness! The students are going to gain so much by participating in this Service Stars initiative to make the world a kinder, brighter and more compassionate place. I’m so grateful to The Allstate Foundation for helping these students lead the effort to serve their community and to TIME for Kids, for the inspiration to help students take action to make their world a better place to be.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Hirschmiller

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Allstate Foundation.

• Brighten Up Our STEM This Lunar New Year

  Funded Dec 31, 2024

  I am so happy these students were able to explore the customs and traditions of the Lunar New Year, and I am extremely grateful to you for supporting the students' rich cultural learning experiences through your contribution to these rich and memorable hands-on learning activities.

  The students learned how the moon cycles dictate the dates of the Lunar New Year, and we began our celebration with a thorough cleaning of the classroom after learning how Chinese tradition involves cleaning as a way of washing away any bad luck from the previous year. They also learned that Chinese New Year decorations are more than just festive embellishments. They carry deep symbolic meanings tied to renewal, luck, and happiness. Red and gold dominate the color palette, symbolizing good fortune and wealth, so accordingly, we enhanced our classroom decor by setting the neon rope lights to a soft red color to enhance the beautiful snakes and lanterns hanging throughout the classroom, and to provide a soft light to encourage students to read and explore more about the Lunar New Year in our classroom library.

  Our rotations through learning centers were filled with learning, diversity and creativity and thanks to your generosity, STEM learning. After learning that, traditionally, if anyone happened to see any of the 'Lucky Mascots' on New Year's Day, they'd be very lucky for the year to come. The dragon, one of the four lucky mascots, was the basis of our scientific discovery. Students first dressed the part of the scientist by putting on their lab coats and goggles, and then they each got a golden egg to investigate.The catch was, the students had no idea what might be hidden inside the golden egg. Before long, they were immersed in the work of the paleontologist carefully excavating the treasure held within their magnificent eggs. You can only imagine the excitement that filled the classroom when the students realized their eggs contained a dragon thus ensuring they would be lucky for the year to come. Oh, the joy!

  Thank you for so much your support to make learning fun, hands on, inclusive, and filled with immersive cultural experiences.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Hirschmiller

  This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Express and 11 other donors.

• Reading and Crafting Our Way Into the Lunar New Year

  Funded Dec 30, 2024

  Our Lunar New Year celebration was filled with fun, learning, togetherness, and creativity, and we can't thank you enough for your generous donation to this project to help make this immersive cultural experience possible.

  We learned how the moon cycles dictate the dates of the Lunar New Year, and we began our celebration with a thorough cleaning of the classroom after learning how Chinese tradition involves cleaning as a way of washing away any bad luck from the previous year.

  Our rotations through learning centers were filled with learning, diversity and creativity and play. Using the Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Cards, I was able to print and prepare several crafts to help students learn about and celebrate the zodiac animal of 2025–the snake. At one learning center students put together Lunar New Year 2025 snake crowns, and at another center students colored, cut, and worked together to help each other transform their artistic paper snakes into magnificent hand puppets.

  With red paper, gold glitter, and lots of imagination, students crafted red lanterns to hang above the light table. The students loved exploring this center and spent their time stacking and arranging the nature-inspired blocks that look like real ice cubes to create a custom polar habitat. Finally, students got to rotate to the classroom library to explore our collection of Lunar New Year books under the soft glow of the neon signs that encourage the love of reading and help the students associate the act of reading and learning with calm, relaxation, and serenity.

  I am so happy these students were able to explore the customs and traditions of the Lunar New Year, and I am extremely grateful to you for supporting the students' rich cultural learning experiences through your contribution to these hands-on learning activities and adventures.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Hirschmiller

  This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Express and 5 other donors.

• Lunar New Year Learning and Growth

  Funded Dec 27, 2024

  I want to thank you for helping us learn about and celebrate the Lunar New Year. Our Lunar New Year celebration was centred around removing the bad and the old, and welcoming the new and the good. During this time we discussed the importance of friends and family and celebrated our togetherness, we set goals for the new year, and we offered good luck and well wishes to each other and our families .

  We learned how the moon cycles dictate the dates of the Lunar New Year, and we began our celebration with a thorough cleaning of the classroom after learning how Chinese tradition involves cleaning as a way of washing away any bad luck from the previous year. With bright and shimmering colors, we created dazzling fireworks to ward off evil spirits.

  As an important occasion to celebrate our togetherness, we made the snacks you sent us a crucial part of our New Year celebration. We all gathered around our tables and enjoyed a New Year's feast together. We used this time together to offer good luck and well wishes to each other and to set goals for the future. I shared the story about you, and about how you wanted them to have a successful new year, and then I showed them the impressive display of incentives you sent to help them earn rewards along the way. It would have been just wonderful if you could have felt the energy and excitement in the air as students oohed and ahhed over the motivating incentives you sent. They have never been so excited about their goals, and I already see them working hard to learn, grow, and reach for their dreams.

  After our feast, we continued our Lunar New Year celebrations by learning how each Chinese zodiac year is represented by an animal, and how the wood snake is the 2025 zodiac animal. While students created their very own snakes we talked about how it is believed that the snake is associated with wisdom, charm, elegance and transformation and how people born in the Year of the Snake are believed to be intuitive, strategic, and intelligent.

  Our celebrations were filled with togetherness, learning, creativity, goal setting, and looking forward to what this new year will bring. We had the opportunity to discuss our gratitude for the blessings we have received and want to thank you for creating the opportunity for this cultural immersion through your extremely generous donation to this project, and we also want to thank Panda Express for matching the donations to this project and for offering the wonderful curriculum to help us explore the customs and traditions of the Lunar New Year.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Hirschmiller

  This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Express and 4 other donors.