Past projects 5
Building a Library of Our Own!
Funded Jul 9, 2023Thank you so much for your generous contributions to this project!
While my students have always been curious and enthusiastic readers, finding the right titles to meet their interests with what we have available on campus has been a challenge. Moreover, browsing books online just doesn't spark that same level of investment and excitement that flipping through books on a shelf does. This beautiful new library of titles that students requested has been just what we've needed to reinvigorate their passion for independent reading!
The students are SO excited to dive into this new literary library; every time a student walks past these shiny new titles on the shelves, their eyes light up! Thanks to your generosity, I can now offer them a place to explore, get excited, and grow their experiences and skills as lifelong readers and lovers of literature.
Thank you so much for helping us build this amazing new classroom library. It is going to serve generations of students well!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Pariser
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Foundation and 20 other donors.Actively Reading Like Champions!
Funded Oct 26, 2022Thank you SO much for your generous contributions to our project! Thanks to you, my students have been able to engage much more directly and personally with the texts that we've read so far this year. From memoirs, to novels and plays, they are using their post-its and multi-colored pens to practice summarizing, analyzing, and responding to everything that we read as ACTIVE readers!
When I first shared the materials with students, they were beyond excited to receive their own special active reading pens— they have continued to hold to and use these with tremendous care. The post-its have also allowed students to have the space they need to respond and reflect freely as they read, and many have articulated how much more effective and efficient their active reading process has become as a result.
I am so happy to report that my students are becoming more engaged and excited readers, as well as truly critical thinkers thanks to your generosity! We can't wait to begin our next text!!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Pariser
This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Cares and 2 other donors.Help Teens Find the Meaning of Life!
Funded Nov 10, 2021Thank you so much for your generous donation to this project!
The students who are benefitting from this project are seniors in our College Prep & Digital Arts Magnet. The focus of this senior year English course is to get students thinking, writing, and reading critically about the big ideas that every engaged adult should be thinking about: What is literature and why do we read it? What does it mean to be an adult? What are the characteristics of a meaningful life? What drives our behavior? In an attempt to answer these questions, we examine some of the major movements in literature and their link to popular philosophies, ideologies, and culture. One key element of this is our Existentialist literature unit.
Franz Kafka's novella, "The Metamorphosis" is a key part of this unit. Doing a close literary analysis of Gregor Samsa's character allows students to think critically about—and sometimes question—their own priorities in life in order to arrive at their own conclusions about what we as human beings should be concerned about and focused on. Having copies of this novella gives each individual student the chance to engage more deeply with the text. They take it home to read, writing in the books as a way of conversing more personally and more actively with the ideas and characters that the author presents. Our class time is spent discussing and analyzing what they've read, sometimes as a whole class, sometimes in small groups, and sometimes in a more formal Socratic Seminar format where students lead and facilitate the discussion around central questions that they have crafted around the themes of the text.
Without these copies of the novella, none of this deep thinking and critical reading would be possible. Thank you for helping us make this happen!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Pariser
This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and 2 other donors.Creating an Engaging, Interactive, and Supportive Online Learning Experience!
Funded Mar 9, 2021Thank you so much for your generous contribution to our class project. It is undeniable that this was a rough year for so many, and you played a big role in making it possible for me to provide my students with an engaging, interactive, and supportive online learning experience that would have been otherwise impossible during this pandemic.
Students faced tremendous challenges thanks to this historic school closure. Not only were many forced to take on new responsibilities and face obstacles at home thanks to the challenges presented by COVID-19, but they were also asked to adapt to a new way of learning, 100% online and at home. This required increased independence, technological literacy, and socio-emotional grit as they were isolated physically from their peers and their teachers. Initially, I struggled to provide them with a learning environment that was engaging, efficient, or effective, thanks to an embarrassingly old and outdated computer that would crash at any attempt to use any technological tools or resources while on Zoom with students. This new device opened up a world of possibilities that made real, authentic learning and engagement with one another possible for the first time since schools closed in March 2020. From collaborative projects in breakout rooms on Zoom, to whole class Socratic seminars on the meaning of life and literature, we were able to accomplish so much thanks to your generosity. This updated technology allowed students to interact with one another in a way that hadn't been possible; the relationships that we built as a result and the collaboration that occurred in our virtual classroom made all the difference in what students were able to learn and accomplish by the end of this year online.
My students and I both could not be more grateful for your help during this difficult time. The benefits that resulted from this project will long outlast the obstacles we faced during this pandemic, and we are looking forward to continuing to build on what we started together when we are back on campus in the fall.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Pariser
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 12 other donors.Help Teens Find the Meaning of Life!
Funded Dec 30, 2018Thank you so much for your generous donation to this project!
The students who are benefitting from this project are seniors in our College Prep & Digital Arts Magnet. The focus of this senior year English course is to get students thinking, writing, and reading critically about the big ideas that every engaged adult should be thinking about: What is literature and why do we read it? What does it mean to be an adult? What are the characteristics of a meaningful life? What drives our behavior? In an attempt to answer these questions, we examine some of the major movements in literature and their link to popular philosophies, ideologies, and culture. One key element of this is our Existentialist literature unit.
Tolstoy's novella, "The Death of Ivan Ilych" is a key part of this unit. Doing a close literary analysis of Ivan Ilych's character allows students to think critically about—and sometimes question—their own priorities in life in order to arrive at their own conclusions about what we as human beings should be concerned about and focused on. Having copies of this novella gives each individual student the chance to engage more deeply with the text. They take it home to read, writing in the books as a way of conversing more personally and more actively with the ideas and characters that the author presents. Our class time is spent discussing and analyzing what they've read, sometimes as a whole class, sometimes in small groups, and sometimes in a more formal Socratic Seminar format where students lead and facilitate the discussion around central questions that they have crafted around the themes of the text.
Without these copies of the novella, none of this deep thinking and critical reading would be possible. Thank you for helping us make this happen!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Pariser