Past projects 38
Music Fuels The Soul, More Healthy Snacks Fuel The Musician
Funded May 12, 2017Nothing thrills students more than being given snacks! And nothing thrills me more than knowing I can give them healthy, clean snacks that will help them feel full and focused for our after-school rehearsals. At our Title I school, I can never be certain if students will pack themselves snacks for our after-school rehearsals and even when they do, they are often cheap, salty snacks like chips and Takis (a favorite here).
Thanks to your generosity, I am able to give them low-sugar, low-calorie, high-fiber and high-protein snacks like the granola and fruit bars in this project. As we kicked off our new school year with band camp and marching band rehearsals, these snacks have been perfect for a quick pick-me-up as we gruel through hours of rehearsal.
Our band definitely feels like a family and thanks to your support care, you are our extended family!
Thank you so very much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Perez
This classroom project was brought to life by Life Essentials Supporters and 2 other donors.Music Fuels The Soul, Healthy Snacks Fuel The Musician
Funded Aug 18, 2017There is nothing better than knowing a student isn't hungry. At the Title I school that I teach at, I can never be sure of when my students have last eaten, or just how healthy that food was. Thanks to your help, I can now be sure that when I have before and after-school rehearsals, my students will be working with a little boost of nutrition.
These snacks that you helped purchased are full of fruit and protein and I'm happy to give them to my students. And what's great is that they love them, too! Their eyes light up with excitement when I open up the bin that holds the granola bars. I think it's not just the taste of the snacks, but knowing that they are being given out of love and care. It is just one more example of how our band really is a family.
These snacks arrived just in time, too! Not only were they used for a late morning snack at our band camp, we will be starting rehearsals for our fall parade next week and they will definitely get eaten then.
Thank you so very much for keeping my students healthy!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Perez
This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and 9 other donors.Marching Wolves Play Ball!
Funded Mar 30, 2017There is nothing better at the end of a long, productive school year than kicking back with your students and colleagues at a local minor league baseball game! Every year our school participates in a School Spirit Night at the Brooklyn Cyclones and this year, the attendance was far higher than any previous year- thanks to your help and support!
It made me so happy to be able to offer the band students, the very students who lead the School Spirit March at the game after many extra rehearsals and practices, FREE tickets to this event. All of their hard work throughout the year was celebrated with this treat on what ended up being a beautiful Brooklyn night! Despite how much fun this game is, we often have low attendance because of the cost to attend. But with the generous support of Donors Choose donors, these students were able to offset that cost and attend. What a wonderful end-of-the-year treat! And the band sounded great!
Now that my fourth graders have had a taste of marching band and how much fun it can be, I know they'll be ready to go as 5th graders this fall as they prepare for fall marching band. I can't wait to hear what wonderful music they create!
Thank you with all my heart!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Perez
This classroom project was brought to life by Aspect Ventures and 13 other donors.Building Our Band Music Books
Funded Mar 9, 2017There is certainly a romantic notion of the disorganized artist. The messy room and inability to stick to a time table is certainly a true stereotype for some. But for young, budding musicians like my students, the better organized they are, the clearer their path is to success.
Creating these band books is a huge step in that direction. With these binders, students can keep all of their music in one place. They can also keep their rehearsal schedule and notes here, too. This will create more efficiently run rehearsals and will hopefully create good habits that can be applied to other aspects of their life.
Thank you so much for helping them become better musicians, and by extension, better students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Perez
Music Fuels The Soul, Healthy Snacks Fuel The Musician
Funded Mar 9, 2017Funding this project for healthy snacks came with a relief I don't normally experience with Donor's Choose. Usually, projects are for curriculum or classroom needs. Needs that if aren't met, we can work around. But that was not the case with this project. Having these healthy snacks for my students was vital! And since receiving them that has been proven over and over.
It is hard at times to work in a low poverty school. At times I almost forget the home life situation of my students because they don't always show it at school. I had an experience recently where I called an early morning before school music rehearsal. My students dutifully showed up on time ready to play but one student hesitantly asked, "When will I get to go to breakfast?" It didn't even occur to me that these students ALREADY come to school early because they need to partake in the school's free breakfast program. She was ready to skip it to attend the rehearsal but I immediately sent her down to breakfast and went to get the granola bars that were part of this project. I gave one to every student, even that same student when she came back out of fear that others were too shy to speak up about missing breakfast. I now regularly provide these snacks at all of our before and after school rehearsals and I am comforted that the students know that if they ever miss a meal or are just hungry they know they can come to me for a little snack.
It is sad that there are so many who live in hunger. I am grateful to Donor's Choose and all of its supporters and donors for helping my students live with a little less hunger. Thank you for your help in funding this project.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Perez
This classroom project was brought to life by Life Essentials Supporters and 2 other donors.Orff Instruments for Our Classroom Orchestra!
Funded Mar 7, 2017What an amazing gift this was for my students and school! For years I traveled from classroom to classroom for music class and was never able to even think of using xylophones or anything like that as part of my music instruction. But this year our incredibly supportive administration was able to give me a room. Which was amazing except... I had nothing but one small bag of instruments for it. Then came Donors Choose. Thanks to the exceptionally giving Donor's Choose community, I have been able to fill that classroom with instruments from all over the world and these Orff xylophones were by far the most exciting ones to receive.
If only I could have captured on film the excitement of every. single. class. when I told them that that day's lesson would be to "build-a-band" using our new xylophones!! Students oohed and ahhed over the deep resonant tones from the wood bass xylophone and the loud, piercing, sustained pitches from the soprano metal xylophone. Finally we were able to put into practice concepts such as steady beat, ostinato, melody and harmony. Those classes have by far been the best all year! Moving forward I will now revise all of my lessons and curriculum to utilize these instruments and any others that we (may already have plans to!) request.
This was an incredibly large project and for a second there as the red clock started ticking, it seemed it was not going to happen. I thank you all from the very bottom of my heart for your thoughtfulness and your generosity. Please know that you have made a very big difference for these kids and all future students at our school, not only in your support of music, but as a reminder of the incredible kindness that you have proven still exists in our world.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Perez
Quill You Help Us Keep Our Room Clean?
Funded Dec 27, 2016It is one of the best feelings to find out that a Donor's Choose project has been funded- not just because your students will be getting the things they need but because it is such a reminder of the kindness of strangers. Thank you so much for contributing to this project. I have never had a cleaner room!
You would never think it, but my students were so excited to see our new cleaning supplies. There were actually small arguments over who would get to use the vacuum first (a happily easy solved problem!). The duster was the second most popular item. And now when students need tissues or simply just hand sanitizer, I don't have to send them out of the room. I have also loved hearing the students walk in and remark, "It smells good in here!" thanks to our essential oil diffuser. Hopefully that lavender blend is calming them down, too!
Not only do we now have a more comfortable learning space, but the students are learning about personal and shared responsibility as they take turns with the different cleaning tasks. Our room now ready for the new Orff instruments I hope to be earning through our next Donor's Choose project.
Thank you so very much for your help. It has made all the difference!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Perez
This classroom project was brought to life by Quill.com and 13 other donors.New Instruments for Our New Music Room!
Funded Nov 18, 2016I am extremely grateful for the generosity shown in support of this project! With these new classroom instruments, my students will be able to experience playing music, rather than just listening and talking about it. These instruments will be played by all of my students, grades K-5, as part of our regular classroom instruction. They will also be used by my enrichment group, The Music Ambassadors, in part of a series of presentations that they will be giving to toddlers at our neighborhood library.
My students were so excited as we unboxed the instruments. Some instruments, like the caxixi and djembes, they had never seen before! And the younger students were completely surprised by the sound a sand block is supposed to make. Up until now, the sand blocks we were using were rubbed smooth so they sound completely different! What's great is that these students will now be using real, quality instruments from around the world as they learn how to create music here in our own country.
Now that we've bulked up our collection of international percussion instruments, it's time to start purchasing xylophones! I use the Orff method of teaching rhythm and have a new project up requesting a set of Orff Xylophones. These xylophones are unique because the tone bars can be removed, making it easier for students to focus on the proper pitches and rhythms. Together with our new percussion instruments, my students will learn how to create rhythms as an ensemble!
Thank you so, so much for your help!!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Perez