Past projects 26
Aspiring Ceramicists
Funded Dec 24, 2024Thank you so much! I am so absolutely happy that I will have Clay to use with my students after the holiday break. We just used the last of our clay in our rain sticks, which go into the kiln when we get back. The kids are very excited to start learning how to throw on the wheel - little do they know how messy it is, but so very fun!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gunning
Snacks and Packs
Funded Aug 31, 2024The school year has taken off and the new batch of 7th and 8th graders have acclimated to the program and are enjoying the fall season. We have gotten into a groove with one another and the students are doing really well. By mid morning the kids are hungry, many don't bring food from home as they are on the free lunch program. It's really so nice to be able to walk around and pass out a snack to each kid who comes into my math class. It's already a difficult class as the students are challenged by the math curriculum and become easily frustrated. If they are able to ground themselves with a snack that has some nutrients in it, it makes learning something new and potentially difficult a task that they are better prepared for because they are focusing on the information and not the rumbling in their bellies. I am forever thankful for the additional help in the classroom, it means so much to have these materials for the kids.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gunning
Clay is the Way to Better Mental Health
Funded Apr 18, 2024Last school year was my first year teaching junior high and being at Sam Brannan Middle School, my 20th year in the district. I found it very refreshing working with this age group as they were eager to participate in the lesson and learn new ways to express themselves through art. At first they were hesitant about getting their hands dirty with the clay; there was a discomfort with the feel of the material on their hands. But as the first few hand building lessons got underway, many of the students began to feel a sense of accomplishment and pride as each new project turned into something recognizable.
After learning the basics of hand building, the students began to throw on the wheel and had one day a week that was theirs to sit at a wheel and feel the clay slip through their hands. Their confidence grew and they became more familiar with the wheels and were able to make numerous bowls and cups.
I had two students who really turned their attitude around from the start of the year to the end of the year. Both students refused to participate when the school year started, they wanted to be on their phones and not do the classwork. But once they started doing pottery and realized that they had the power to make items that people were interested it, they couldn't stop making more and more. Thank you for helping me teach my students a love for art.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gunning
Canvassing the world, one brush stroke at a time.
Funded Nov 28, 2023This school year I have the privilege of teaching 7th and 8th grade students who are the most amazing humans. I teach students who have a wide variety of disabilities from Emotional Disturbance, to Language Emphasis to Autism. When I am teaching my art class I make sure that the lessons are accessibly in ways that allows the students to feel successful and confident.
One of our first art projects this school year was an acrylic painting of Jelly Fish. The students were modeled, step by step, how to paint background and foreground, how to use line to create a 3D affect, how to layer color to make the fish look like it is jumping off the page.
We have moved on to painting turtles, river monsters, and winter gnomes. The students love being able to go home with their newly painted piece of art and share it with their families. We are all thankful to use supplies that make us feel like real artists.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gunning
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 8 other donors.Art in the Classroom: A Pathway to Positive Mental Health
Funded Aug 6, 2023The students have already completed three art projects this school year. They created pumpkins and brains out of clay; learning the basic skills necessary for sculpting. They also started painting
This school year we plan to have a galley showcase at Open House, in April. We plan to put the students work on display and sell it, with the hope to raise money for next year's art class. Without the help from our donors we wouldn't be able to have the privilege to create such wonderful art.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gunning
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 10 other donors.Distance Learning Survival Boxes
Funded Sep 1, 2020Distant Learning has been a challenge this year, running high school classes from my kitchen table with my 7 year old son sitting next to me doing 1st grade. What has been so very helpful though, has been giving my students the materials they need to run lessons via zoom. All the students in my art class were able to get a bag of supplies full of sketchbooks, pencils, markers, watercolor paper, scissors and glue sticks plus an art binder full of all the lessons we will be doing this year. The students were really excited to see me at their front doors holding bags of supplies for them; it was really great to be able to see them in person. I miss them so much.
Since the students are set with their supplies, it has been a smoother transition to zoom classes than I initially thought. The kids have been doing a great job creating their 2D drawings and coloring them in. Even their parents have gotten excited about our lessons and have created their own works of art!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gunning
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 7 other donors.Mellow Me Out With Arts and Crafts.
Funded May 13, 2019When I was in high school I never took an art class. In college I struggled through art history and didn't think that art was something I would ever be good at, nor did I think I would ever be teaching in. When I first started teaching 17 years ago I would do weekly art projects with my 4th-6th graders, which were fun and crafty. When I transferred to teach high school 9 years ago, I was challenged to teach art every day. My first year was quite challenging as I just didn't have the materials needed to run an adequate art program, nor did my students come from families that could supply materials for art.
After I found Donor's Choose I all of a sudden had access to resources that I never thought I would be granted. The program started with getting pottery wheels and glaze, then we branched out and started painting with acrylics, and now I feel like there are no boundaries to what we can accomplish through art. The world has opened up to us and the students and I are traveling down this amazing artistic path and it's all thanks to donors like you who have been so amazing. I am thankful.
I have been blown away by the skill level of my students; non verbal students with autism are throwing the most beautiful bowls on the wheel, students with emotional disabilities are expressing themselves uniquely through painted expression; students with limited range with their arms are painting full canvases when in the beginning of the year they didn't have that ability. The materials are giving them so much grace and I am so appreciative.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gunning
This classroom project was brought to life by Craig Newmark Philanthropies and 6 other donors.Emoting Mindfulness Through Art
Funded Nov 16, 2018The students and I have taken quite the whimsical adventure this week after returning from our winter break. We started our Monday art class taking a walk through campus investigating leaves and deciding which ones we thought would make the best templates. We found a wonderful patch of ivy up by the administration office and each student picked out three or four leaves. We also found these beautiful elongated leaves with deep veins out by our class garden that were really fun to work with. Back in the classroom the students learned how to use the slab roller (a machine that flattens out clay into equally thick slabs which are good to work with when hand building) and brought their slab to their table work station. Using rolling pins, the students rolled their leaves into their clay, and then cut out the leaf imprint. After allowing the clay to dry, the students rolled off the leaf and added some additional detail to their leaf plates; some students used underglaze (its paint that is made out of clay) or they utilized the wooden tools to create thicker veins running through the leaf. We are hoping to put these leaves into the kiln later today and will glaze them next week. Each student will chose one of their masterpieces to put into our annual Gallery Showcase in May.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gunning
Positive Mental Health Through Art
Funded Jul 27, 2018Thank you for everything that you have given to my students and classroom. I look around the room at all the art on the walls, the cheerfulness, the brilliant colors and fanciful sculptures and I am truly blessed with how wonderful the classroom feels. This school year has started without it's usual hiccups, it's been pretty mellow, full of laughs and joy. The students are able to utilize art through all of their academics, and with that, a calm has settled over the classroom. It is serene. And it's absolute amazing! When the materials first arrived the kids were super excited to tear into them and find all the amazing supplies. They were jazzed about starting their next projects and began planning what sort of activities they would like to do during the coming months. We all appreciate your generosity. It makes for a happy classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gunning
We're Digging This Thing Called Art.
Funded Mar 22, 2018The class pack of books has really been quite the treat for my students. Each year we buy sketch books for the class and the students use them to practice new techniques learned; such in last week we practiced creating texture through drawing sea creatures. The students were able to construct (with the help from staff) their own books and were able to decorate the front of the books before jumping into their daily lessons. This week the students are going to begin work with clay and will practice making pinch pot brains! It's always useful to have a spare brain handy. The students will practice rolling coils and making bowls and scoring the clay. After the clay goes through the first round of firing in the kiln they will be able to use the new brushes to brush on the glaze for our second firing. The students are given such wonderful opportunities to create fine art pieces and its all due to your donations. Thank you so much for donating to my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gunning