Past projects 10
Emotional Support (Stuffed) Animals
Funded Dec 2, 2024I am filled with gratitude as I write to thank you for your thoughtful donation of stuffed animals to my classroom in the South Bronx. Your kindness has made a tremendous impact on my students' mental health and social-emotional growth. The stuffed animals have become a beloved addition to our restorative circles, providing comfort and a sense of safety as we navigate important conversations about feelings, challenges, and community building. Your generous support has truly helped create a more nurturing and supportive learning environment.
When my students first saw the stuffed animals, their faces lit up with excitement and curiosity. One student hugged a plush bear tightly and whispered, "This feels like a friend." The immediate sense of connection was heartwarming. We now use the stuffed animals as a talking piece during restorative circles—students hold or pass them while sharing their thoughts, helping to create a calm, respectful, and supportive atmosphere. The softness and warmth of these cuddly companions help even the shyest students open up, fostering trust and empathy within the group.
In addition to their role in circles, the stuffed animals have become a part of our day-to-day classroom life. Students are welcome to hold them when they feel anxious, need a moment of calm, or want a sense of comfort while working quietly. One student who has difficulty staying focused often holds a small plush animal on his desk to ease his restlessness, which helps him stay engaged during lessons. Another student uses the stuffed animals as a reminder to practice deep breathing when emotions run high. Your donation has given us simple yet powerful tools to support emotional regulation and mindfulness throughout the school day.
Looking ahead, we plan to continue integrating the stuffed animals into both structured restorative practices and independent conflict resolution strategies. As students gain confidence, they will take turns leading circles, using the tools and strategies we've practiced. The next steps involve deepening their self-awareness and promoting peer-led solutions to foster a positive, compassionate classroom culture. Thank you for your kindness and investment in their well-being—you have made a lasting difference in their lives.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Shaw
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org Teen Mental Health Initiative.Let’s Make Writing Happen Again! Pens, Pencils, and Paper Galore
Funded Nov 22, 2024I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to extend my deepest gratitude for your generous donation of pens, pencils, and loose-leaf paper for my ELA classroom in the South Bronx. These materials have made a tremendous difference in our daily learning experience. Thanks to your support, my students have the tools they need to fully engage in their writing activities and class discussions without the stress of running out of supplies.
When the boxes of materials arrived, the excitement in my classroom was incredible. My students were thrilled to see the fresh supplies—especially the bright, colorful pens and crisp, clean paper. One student exclaimed, "Wow, these are for us?!" as they eagerly started organizing the pencils into our shared bins. These simple yet essential tools have boosted their confidence and pride in their work. Having enough materials has also fostered a stronger sense of community, as students can now easily share and collaborate without worrying about who has what.
Recently, we began preparing for the ELA Regents exam by writing argumentative and text analysis essays. Your generous supplies have been invaluable in supporting this rigorous work. The loose-leaf paper has been ideal for drafting, revising, and organizing outlines, while the pens have helped students annotate texts and highlight evidence for their arguments. One memorable moment came when a student proudly used different colors to break down her essay into claim, evidence, and reasoning, gaining a clearer understanding of how to structure her writing. Your support has truly strengthened their writing skills and helped them feel more prepared for this critical exam.
Looking ahead, my students are excited to continue practicing these skills and refining their writing techniques as we approach the test date. With the confidence and enthusiasm sparked by these new resources, I'm confident they'll achieve great results. Thank you again for making this possible—your kindness has had a meaningful and lasting impact on my classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Shaw
This classroom project was brought to life by Con Edison and 2 other donors.Ms. , Can I Print Something Please?
Funded Dec 31, 2022Thank you so much for your contribution to our classroom. Having ink in the classroom is something that is often overlooked. However, in order to make class materials to access student learning, to teach students how to edit and revise work, or to display student work having accessible printer is crucial for my students and myself!
Students love being able to have hard copies available to read or having their work displayed. However, this became hard to do when I ran out of ink for my personal printer. When our project was funded, students were excited to display their writing pieces in the classroom. Seeing them have hard copies of what they produced made their work real for them. Doing everything online since the pandemic has had its advantages but making school feel real again has been a challenge.
By simply have paper copies of materials available or being able to print out work that they produced, students are able to feel like school is real again. Ink and printers for many would seem like a given in a school but sadly this is not the case. Thank you for equaling the playing field for my students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Shaw
Emotional Support (Stuffed) Animals
Funded Dec 18, 2022A million thanks for your donation and involvement in our classroom. I was nervous posting this project because I was not sure that people would understand the significance of plushies in the classroom. Thank you for the support and enabling me to dream big!
Students use the plushies daily! Some students use them during class and others borrow one throughout the day if they are feeling down and sad. Students are in love with the option of animals they have to choose from! More importantly, students are excited to have enough to go around.
It has really impacted the school in a positive way by helping students and teachers become more aware of how they are feeling and how it may impact their interactions with others. Students will also give plushies to teachers if they feel like a teacher is down or overwhelmed. For teachers and students alike, it has become a symbol of when a person may not be feeling the best or needs extra support.
After COVID-19, we all need support and the stuff animals have made that easier for everyone to communicate! These stuff animals have greatly increased the emotional intelligence of our students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Shaw
Creating Reading Queens and Kings: The Graphic Novel
Funded Dec 2, 2019Thank you so much for your generous donation to my Classroom. The students have improved so much in independent reading over the past 3 months. Students have gone from hating the thought of reading to begging to have reading time the whole period. With your donation, our new books will help add to our positive reading culture!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Shaw
This classroom project was brought to life by CRUNCH and one other donor.Creating Harlem Readers: Learning about Police Brutality and Self-Advocacy
Funded Sep 5, 2018First, I just want to start off by saying thank you for your support of my classroom and seeing my students as valuable. Creating a love for reading, with students who struggle with reading is no easy feat. However, with your contribution of books that sustain their interest, reading has been a complete joy in my classroom this marking period.
Our focus question for this year is "What is our responsibility to each other as human beings?" I choose this topic because I want our students to always think about themselves as being apart of a community. I also want them to be able to grasp the importance to standing up not only for yourself but for others as well. This Marking Period is focusing on the importance of advocacy in the impact of young people in movements for change around the world. We started off the unit by viewing the film The Hate You Give on a class trip to introduce the topic of police brutality, racism, and advocacy in young people. Then we moved into reading our books.
We do the reading of all of our text in class. Some kids may lack the space or time after school to engage with the text so we read in class. Many have expressed that this is the first time in years that they actually have sat and read a book. They mentioned that they are not just pretending to read but they are actually enjoying the reading. Examples of this can be seen when they get angry with me when I pause the audio or when the bell rings and they have to leave before finishing a chapter. The book has been especially impactful on my young men of color. The narrators of both books are young men and many have expressed that these books are the first time that they have heard or seen themselves in literature.
What the students and I are most grateful for is the great projects these books are inspiring. The 8th graders reading All American Boys have decided they want to create their own movie adaption and script of the film. As well as have a panel discussion with our local police department. The 10th graders reading Dear Martin have decided that they will write letters to a civil rights leader who they admire similar to what the protagonist does in the reading. The students fostered and planned these ideas on their own. Seeing students take an initiative in their education is always wonderful because you see them literally growing and thinking about the world in more complex ways right in front of your eyes!
Thank you for being apart of our FDA family, and showing students a form of advocacy through your positive actions. I hope my words convey just how much your contribution means to my children and their attitudes towards education and we wish you the best!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Shaw
Closing the Technology Gap for Harlem Students
Funded Aug 1, 2017First, I would like to start off by saying a big THANK YOU!!!!!!!! Words and all of the exclamation points in the world cannot describe how thankful I am for this contribution. You have literally helped make my teaching dreams a reality! The lack of technology in my school created an unfavorable observation of society for many of my students. They felt that because of their zip code and skin color, that society as a whole had discarded them. These indirect negative perceptions of self for a young person to feel or take on and can have dire consequences. Your donations- random acts kindness by you, strangers who do not know us, has helped them ( and me) feel differently!
The laptops excited the students for many reasons. They recognize that they can now take the extent of their learning to the next level and take ownership of their learning. If they do not understand a word they can look it up. If they want to find audio for the book that they are reading, they can. They can focus on research projects of their choice now because we have the means to do such. The freedom of choice is the most important aspect in discovering your passions. They have also been excited to learn how to do things like creating PowerPoint's, learning how to present, and working with word processors and improving their typing skills.
The laptops have helped my students because now I can easily give students the attention in instruction they need a lot easier. I can see in the moment through testing platforms and shared documents what they are struggling with or understand, giving more quick and accurate feedback for them to improve. The laptops have also helped out my now current seniors with researching colleges or alternative after high school options, filling out their applications for schools and scholarships, FASFA, and typing or receiving feedback on their narratives. These key activities that play a role in my kid's futures were limited due to the lack of working computers and now they have space and means to get their work done.
You have impacted my students from grades 8- 12 by giving them access to something that was scarce. They understand the importance of what you have helped them attained and are truly grateful. You will forever be apart of our FDA family! Your contribution has made them feel valued, cared about, and equal; these important feelings ultimately help them form and change their perceptions of self for the better.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Shaw
Can I Print Something? Ink And Paper For Printing Needs
Funded Mar 1, 2016Thank You so much for your contribution of ink and paper! It is a blessing to be able to get these needed materials and we have you to thank for that. The students have been using the materials to print out their essays and edit for
peer review. Students have also been using the resources to print out their materials for class in order to get their work done.
The students were excited at having the ability to print. When they first saw the materials they were excited. They saw the word toner and went crazy because they knew that there printer struggles were over. In the weeks leading up to the ink arriving,ink in the computer lab had ran out and students were struggling trying to get there projects done.
If you come into my classroom at 7:30 in the morning before school starts or during sophomore lunch period at around 11 am, you will see students clamored around their laptops doing their projects and printing out their essays to hand in on time. No excuses.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Shaw
Writing & Reading Role Model: Document Camera Needed
Funded Sep 22, 2015Thank you so much for your contribution to my classroom. We have been using the document camera on a daily basis and it has been a wonderful tool for both my students and myself. When we first received the document camera the students were confused by it because they had never saw one used in any classroom before. Initially, I modeled a writing strategy and then asked for students to share their work. They were ready to just share from their seats but then, I asked them to come up and share their draft to display to the class. Many felt uneasy and scared but went up anyway and got on the spot feedback from their peers while their peers had the advantage of creating an exemplar to edit their work off of.
Now, my students fight to share out their work and present their drafts with the document camera. As writers, even though we have only been using the document camera for a month- their confidence as grown leaps and bounds. They are less scared of writing as a process and are less scared to make mistakes and play with language. This tool as really made writing in my classroom something to be shared, admired, and improved upon. If it was not for you and your contribution, my students would not be grasping so many writing concepts this early in the school year. Because they are doing so well, I got an okay from my assistant principal to start prepping them for their ELA regents which will give my 10th graders an opportunity to take AP courses in the 11th grade which is something they expressed doing. All of this success is from a small document camera! My students and I appreciate you and consider you a part of our classroom family.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Shaw
Computer Library
Funded Nov 5, 2013Thank You so much for your donation. Teaching special education, my kids always feel left out and ignored by the school. Their needs and wants are always an afterthought. These computers that they are able to have access to made them feel like somebody else cared about their future and education just as much as I do. I did donors choose on a whim and did not think nothing would come from it but you have proved me wrong.
The students were just as surprised as I was when the project became fully funded. They were in total shock when we received them in class. They were excited and could not wait to get on them. After the initial excitement and the class calmed down they all asked "Who got this for us?" I responded "People you do not know who want to see you learn!" They looked puzzled and one blurted out " Wow! people just gave us something without wanting anything in return? That is weird, but nice!" They have never experienced that theory in action and they felt very special because of it.
The students have been getting a lot of use out of the computers. The first thing we did was set up professional email accounts which will benefit them over the next four years and into college. Many of the students- despite the stellar texting skills did not know how to type on a keyboard. Twice a week and after school the students go on www.typingweb.com to complete typing lessons where I can track their progress. I also allow the students to listen to the audio book of whichever text we may be reading in class helping the students who struggle with their reading keep up with the story. The main use for the computers has been typing their essays for English class and homework that they are assigned online.
Because of these computers I never have missing essays or online homework because it is readily available for the students. On the chrome books they do not have to print out their essays they just share their work with me via google doc and I can see their work and comment on it while they are in the process of doing it. It also links to their cell phones, so even if they are at home they can continue to work on their projects. This has truly helped me alleviate the anxiety that many of my students at the start of the school year had with writing. These computers have made my teaching interactive and readily available with the students. And because of this my students are no longer afraid of completing their work or stressed because they have the tools they need to complete it with success.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Shaw
This classroom project was brought to life by Pumpkin Foundation and 10 other donors.