Ms. Kearstie Hernandez's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 8

• Imagineering for Robotics

  Funded Jun 28, 2023

  Thank you for your support! The students I support are tremendously grateful to have such cool new notebooks to record all their engineering ideas for robotics. The students were thrilled to have the opportunity to have such a special notebook for their robotics season. They are eager to begin designing their robots for their first build! In the next month students will learn how engineers use notebooks to track all of their ideas and show how sometimes what they build does not match their first idea. As we engage in the engineering design process, my students will learn how to use the special tools and formulas with their designs and robots as well. This is an exciting time for robotics and I cannot wait to have student watch all the learning that happens with the engineering design process!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kearstie Hernandez

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron and one other donor.

• Distance Learning Can Still Be Colorful!

  Funded Aug 11, 2020

  First of all thank you for your generosity. These resources mean the world to some of our students and are lifting a small burden off their parents in distance learning. All the supplies were packed by our incredibly dedicated on site support staff and were distributed to students and parents. Students are receiving supplies that should help them with the analog work load for distance learning.

  Students were excited picking up materials and parents were grateful. This process has really opened the eyes of the parents into how supportive the magnet program is to its students. We are a small program with a big heart and we want all members of our magnet community to feel supported especially in this time of need.

  The supplies students received should help them complete work during the distance learning process. As a program we are continuing to look for ways to support our students and your generosity helped us spread the wealth to our magnet program.

  Thank you again for your kindness and generosity! Myself, my students, and the entire magnet program appreciate it!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kearstie Hernandez

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 14 other donors.

• Your Data Said What?!?! Posters for Student Data Presentation

  Funded Jun 21, 2019

  First off thank you for all the generous donations! This has greatly impacted the ability of my students to highlight their work in my class. In my chemistry classes, my students have been able to set up argument boards as groups to share with the class. In my AP chemistry classes, my students have been able to graph periodic trends and make claims based on their graphs. In my physics classes, we are using the boards to display classroom graphs of data. Across all my classes we were able to use the boards to display our class values as well.

  My students have been grateful for the display boards. They have had the opportunity to see each other's work which sparks more conversations in my classroom. Students are also able to share their work with their friends who are not in my classes. There are many students who sit outside in my area of the hallway reading these post-its. It is really awesome! Throughout the rest of this year we will continue to use these boards so we can continue to share group and whole class data.

  Once again these donations have been impactful and will continue to be so for the rest of the year! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kearstie Hernandez

  This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 5 other donors.

• College?! I Need SAT Prep First!

  Funded Oct 18, 2017

  First and foremost thank you once again for providing this invaluable resource. These SAT prep books are by far the most useful thing I can use in my classroom for college preparation. Many of my students have not thought beyond what is for lunch today, but these books will help them to think about what their next steps are after high school.

  We will be using the SAT prep book to help my 10th grade students improve their scores for the PSAT they will be taking again next year. This book offers a plethora of strategies the students can use to improve their scores. Students will be shown multiple strategies for each part of the test and will be given opportunities in class to discuss, try out, and strategize how to use them on the actual test. Students will also be given "quizzes" where they can test their strategies in a situation very similar to the actual test. They will then get immediate feedback on the question see if the strategy is actually working for them or not. Also, once they are 11th graders, the test taking strategies they learned will be applied to their PSAT and SAT scores.

  The SAT Subject Test books will help my students explore each of the content areas. They will have an opportunity to examine the differences between the different content area tests and will be able to pick the tests they feel will best represent their content expertise. Once tests are selected, small study groups will form, allowing students to practice with each other, sharing strategies and content knowledge. These study groups will also be able to take questions back to their content area teachers to deepen their knowledge.

  Thank you once again for providing my classroom with a resource that will last beyond this school year. I appreciate your dedication to helping improve classrooms, and know these test prep books will help my students be the best academic minds they can be.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kearstie Hernandez

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 3 other donors.

• Help Our Basketball Program Get Better!

  Funded Mar 30, 2017

  Thank you once again for your kindness and generosity. The action camera, tripod and supporting accessories are positively impacting our program. My girls are seeing themselves from the outside now and are able to correct themselves in their mistakes. This is an amazing reflection process. It is allowing them to see what I see as they are running up and down the court in the midst of the game. They are able to take notes, pause, rewind and re-watch as many times as they need to in order to feel confident in their reflection and in turn grow. This also allows them to see their team collectively and other teams, seeing effort, skill, and conditioning for the duration of a full game.

  The girls were ecstatic to open the "gifts." They were amazed with the technology and eager to put it use right away. They independently realized the impact of film for their growth as basketball players. The girls have pushed to use the equipment not only for game reflection but also for practice. They believe it will allow them to fine turn their skills and become better for game time.

  My younger players (the freshmen and sophomores) are especially excited to start working with this to grow as players. This will be their first opportunity to see themselves playing and are eager to grow on the court. Your donations are helping these girls learn a reflection process that they will be able to carry with them beyond reviewing film for basketball. Thank you again!!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kearstie Hernandez

  This classroom project was brought to life by Aspect Ventures and 5 other donors.

• Social Media and You!

  Funded Aug 19, 2016

  Dear Generous Donors,

  I want to start by thanking you for allowing my class to experience this book. We are using this book to help use understand how social media can affect our lives far beyond our circle of friends. This book is about telling stories of people and how seemingly harmless tweets, lies, and social media posts can have grand and lasting effects. The students are not only learning the life lessons presented in the book but are also expanding their vocabularies drastically. Many of my students are English learners and this book and experience is allowing them to learn new words and grow a working knowledge of these words.

  Reading in my classroom looks different from day to day. To start we began popcorn reading as a whole class. I did this because I wanted the students to see me reading in front of them first and then allowing them to read a paragraph or two at a time to begin their understanding of the book. Students who are not reading aloud are following along independently. Because it is popcorn reading all students are forced to pay attention to the reader and the place of the class to ensure if their name gets called they can pick up immediately. We are also going to start forming small reading groups. This will allow me work with those who are struggling more with reading and English and allow those who are not struggling to move ahead without feeling as if they have to stay back and read at the pace of the whole class.

  A few of my students are really enjoying the book. I believe they are enjoying it because they have never been exposed to this type of book before. This book is very human and is written as a news story would be presented. The students know this actually happened and are somewhat in awe at that fact.

  My students and I are more appreciative than you can imagine about the donations that allowed us to have and read these books. I thank you again from the bottom of my heart!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kearstie Hernandez

• Advanced Placement Chem Labs

  Funded May 16, 2016

  Dear Donors,

  My students and I want to thank you for your tremendous donation to our classroom. These laboratory notebooks have dramatically changed the way my students are able to complete their in class lab reports. Since handing my students their lab notebooks they have been more than eager to complete labs using them. This resource has allowed my students to stay more organized during their labs and even after during their writing process.

  When my students were first handed their notebooks they were ecstatic. They could not believe they would be keeping such an organized lab notebook that would allow them to reflect on any lab at a moments notice. The students were surprised at how convenient having the notebooks would be. Now that my students are consistently using the notebooks, they are so grateful to have a running record with them at all times of their work. The carbonless copies allow my students to check back and has even allowed them to come back to me and ask to change work because of errors realized after having turned in labs. This resource has incredibly change the way my students are doing and thinking about their lab work.

  Over the course of the year I plan to have my students continue to use the lab notebooks to their full potential. We will be using these to study for the AP Chemistry test and prepare for the free response lab practical questions. Following the AP test I will have my students work to reflect on their work throughout this school year. I will have them look back at their labs and have them think about how their writing and critical thinking has changed. This resource will lead to endless opportunities for reflection for my students. I also hope they will keep them beyond graduation to present them to universities and colleges to receive some laboratory credits.

  Again, thank you for your generous help. My students and I appreciate this beyond words!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kearstie Hernandez

• Help Female Basketball Team Players Grow

  Funded Mar 9, 2016

  These new resources have significantly impacted the way my team is able to practice and train. Having more than 6 balls allows all the girls to work simultaneously to get better. During the practice photographed the girls were surprised at how much more work they were allowed to do because of the increase in the number of balls. This is encouraging to them because they now feel like they are all able to equally have the opportunity to train and not be held back because there were no resources.

  When the girls first heard about the balls they were super excited. However, it was not until they saw the balls and their impact that the girls really understood how amazing this project was. The girls could not hide their excitement at being able to have their own ball for an entire practice. They all told me after practice that having all the extra balls was very helpful and it made practice seem like they were working the whole time.

  Following receipt of these amazing resources, my girls and I will be working hard over the rest of spring and summer to really develop their skills on the court. We will be using the balls continuously. They will see the importance of having enough to go around and see how much more effective practice can be when we have enough good quality resources to support all our athletes. I believe this will bring our basketball program to the next level and allow us to have a high productive off-season leading to a successful season. Thank you once again from the bottom of my heart!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kearstie Hernandez

  This classroom project was brought to life by DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation - Sports Matter and 2 other donors.