Past projects 11
Cool Kids Need a Cool Classroom
Funded Sep 10, 2024Our classroom has been a much cooler place (literally and figuratively!) since you helped us fund the evaporative cooler. It has made such a huge difference in the students' ability to learn, play, and grow.
I want to extend my gratitude for your generous contributions to this project. Before your support, the sweltering heat often made it difficult for students to concentrate and engage in their lessons. With the cooler now in place, our classroom has transformed into a more comfortable learning environment where students can thrive and focus on their education.
Thanks to your kindness, my students are not only cooler but are also ready to learn. The positive impact on their well-being is already noticeable, and we couldn't have achieved this without your support. Your commitment to helping my students is inspiring, and I am deeply grateful for your role in helping them reach their full potential. Thank you for believing in our mission and making a difference in their lives!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Vodopich
Flexible Seating Rocks!
Funded Aug 27, 2022I seem to have missed the deadline for sharing the impact of this project, and I apologize! Better late than never?!
The flexible seating that you helped provide has done wonders in supporting student choice, which empowers students as learners. The wiggle cushions, rockers, and clipboards truly transformed my third graders' ability to move about the classroom in a way that supports their learning. They were SO excited when everything arrived, and couldn't wait to try everything right away! Of course these resources continue to support the kiddos in my class, and will do so for years to come. We couldn't do it without you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Vodopich
We Are Here: Geography and History for Curious Third Graders
Funded Oct 13, 2021I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your generous donation to my classroom project. Our new textbooks have arrived, and the students have been busy learning lots about Washington State geography and history, the history of the Coast Salish people, and how the Salish Sea connects us all. We began by learning geography terms, so we have a shared language for deeper studies of our area. Our learning about the Coast Salish people has included topics such as assimilation, boarding schools, and relocation--these are difficult topics to talk about, but these materials have provided an age-appropriate springboard for rich discussions regarding the true history of indigenous people in the U.S., and the need for efforts toward reconciliation.
In our classroom, reading occurs across all subject areas. If you walked into our room on any given day, you might see students reading the texts you helped provide during our morning gentle start time, silent reading time, during Social Studies, or during our Literacy block, where we are using the books as anchor texts to learn about non-fiction reading and writing. Our new books have been a fantastic resource for so much of what we are working on this year!
I can't thank you enough for your support of the hard work and important learning we are doing in the third grade. The books have provided an invaluable source of accurate information and a foundation for insightful class discussions, and have truly helped my students learn and grow.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Vodopich
Interrupting Racism Through Children's Literature
Funded Jun 8, 2020I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your support of this project. My school district is incorporating social justice standards into all aspects of what we teach, and the picture books that you helped fund will allow my students to see how People of Color have been impacted and continue to persevere as mathematicians, activists, writers, artists, journalists, and more. The new social justice standards center around identity: knowing who you are and where you come from; understanding your roles and responsibilities in different communities; getting to know people as individuals and treating people with respect; identifying when people are treated unfairly and giving examples of prejudiced words, acts, and rules; paying attention to how people are treated; and standing up for ourselves and others.
Third graders are not immune to social injustices, nor are they unaware of the impact of having brown skin in our country. Learning about creating positive change, whether it be through bold political movements, grand gestures, the creation of art and poetry, or small incremental steps in the right direction, is essential in the work of teaching, and your contribution to this project allow that difficult and important work to happen. The social justice standards center on concepts that are sometimes abstract or challenging to understand for young learners, and using picture books as a window into the experiences of others is incredibly powerful. Your support is making it happen!
My school is currently 100% remote, so I am unfortunately not able to provide photos of my students using the books just yet. I can assure you that they are being used for virtual read-alouds and class discussions that are engaging and insightful and are changing the way my students understand inequity, prejudice, and their own role as citizens of the world. I thank you sincerely for providing access to these compelling stories--you make a difference!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Vodopich
Moving Toward Solutions: Kids and Climate Change
Funded Mar 6, 2020This is a strange time to be writing to you to share the impact of your generous donation to my classroom, since I am writing from my "home office" and my students are busy learning from their homes! I am missing the energy of the classroom more than I can say, but I did want to share that most of the resources from this grant arrived in time for this years' students to get their hands on them, and you can rest assured that your support of our classroom contributed to their learning! We had just started our unit on climate change when the school closures occurred, so the students were able to begin using many of the books that we received through this grant.
Climate change is an issue that third graders care about deeply. At the beginning of this school year, my students researched and reported on a Rad Woman of their choosing, and Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate change activist, was one who inspired many of my students. We began to follow her as a class, and the students' admiration for her activism and their understanding of this global issue continued to grow--by the time schools were closed on March 13th, I had some VERY passionate environmental activists on my hands! I am including some photos of students deeply engaged in their own learning through the books, and when I say that these students are the movers and shakers who are going to change the world, I say it with confidence. Truly, I cannot thank you enough for your support. It means the world to me and my students, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Vodopich
This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and 32 other donors.Learners Need to Move!
Funded Jan 19, 2019I can't thank you enough for your generous contribution to our project. The materials have truly had a positive impact on our classroom, and have helped these wiggly little learners get the movement they need to be happy, creative, and focused during school. The big blue carpet was the most exciting thing to open--the box was enormous, and it took five kiddos to open it up and roll it out! From the moment it was placed at the front of the room, the carpet has been home to readers, writers, computer scientists, and mathematicians. The entire class can fit on it at once, and it has brought a sense of purpose and place to our community. The low table and reclining chairs are the most sought-after place for collaborative work, and if you walked into our classroom at any moment, you might see kids around the table working on a group presentation, solving a math puzzle together, or simply enjoying the shared solitude in reading a good book in your "just right reading spot." The yoga balls have not only provided much-needed movement during seat work, but have also created a sense of autonomy among the students as they worked to create collaborative agreements for how to share the balls in their groups. Here's what the kids want to tell you about how these materials have changed our classroom:
"The carpet is very comfy when you're reading." -Hazel
"The yoga balls help us focus." -Sloane
"Now I can't imagine the classroom without them!" -Angie
"They are awesome!" -Hank
"Having an extra table helps a lot so we have more room." -Gwen
"The yoga balls help us so you don't have to stand up and stretch, you can just do it on your yoga ball." -Ella
"The yoga balls helped us compromise with the table group and take turns." -Maria
"If we didn't have this new stuff, then we wouldn't be as comfy as we are now." -Lilly
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting the hard work of being in the third grade. You have affected us more than we can say!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Vodopich
Women of Color Change the World!
Funded Nov 2, 2018Thank you so very much for your support of our "Women of Color Change the World" project. Our new books have arrived, and the buzz of excitement in the classroom is perceptible as the children dive into these new texts! My third graders are diverse in many ways, and having a collection of books for our Rad Women unit that represent and reflect their own skin colors, beliefs, languages, and cultures is incredibly important--thank you for supporting my ability to teach inclusiveness and the power of diversity in our classroom.
If you were to walk into my classroom in the past week or so, you would have seen the genuine thrill that occurred with each new box that arrived. These new books are like treasures! The students can hardly wait to open those crisp pages and learn about the rad women inside. Two of our favorites so far have been "Mae Among the Stars," the story of Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, and "Josephine," the dazzling story of the great entertainer Josephine Baker.
I wanted to tell you about a student of mine who has had a hard time deciding which rad woman to research--none of the women we had learned about so far had really grabbed his attention. That all changed when he got his hands on "Malala's Magic Pencil," which tells the incredible story of Malala Yousafzai and how she stood up for girls' rights to go to school in Pakistan. Being from a war-torn country where some citizens had rights and others did not, he immediately connected with Malala's struggle, courage, and perseverance. Thank you so much for allowing him the opportunity to see himself represented in a book, and to learn how one person can change the world.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Vodopich
Robotics + Programming = 21st-Century Learning!
Funded Nov 20, 2017As I write this letter, my students are in the midst of designing and programming a robot that can find a special plant specimen on a dangerous planet, and send information back to the research base. I wish you could see what I see right now--I see 24 students who are working together, solving problems, sharing their ideas, using perseverance to modify their designs, helping each other, and developing life-long communication skills and a love for using technology to address real-world issues. What I see right now is a classroom full of students who are engaged in their learning, and who are literally jumping for joy when they are able to complete a challenging task.
As a teacher in one of the few states that have adopted computer science standards, I can't even tell you how exciting it is to witness the learning happening in my room with the LEGO Wed kits, and I can't thank you enough for your support of this project! The students' enthusiasm for engineering and computer coding has only grown since the moment the kits first arrived at school, which was a day that I didn't think we could top! These kiddos truly are the movers and shakers who are going to shape our future, and I feel so lucky to help them expand the repertoire of 21st-century skills that they are going to need.
There are times in a teacher's career where we get to step back and just enjoy the learning as it's happening, and this is one of those times. The skills that the students are developing using the LEGO kits is truly amazing. Again, thank you so much for your support of this project--we truly couldn't do it without you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Vodopich
Rad Women Change the World
Funded Jun 19, 2017I can't thank you enough for your generosity in supporting this project. The students in my class are just beginning to see themselves as readers, as consumers of information who can take what they learn through reading and share it with others. It's incredibly empowering for a third grader to be able to research someone who has shaped history and share her legacy with our classroom community.
Not only that, but this project is helping my students become EXCITED about books and reading--we have had so many magical moments during these first few weeks of school sharing our new class library together: "Ms. V! Another box arrived! I can't wait to see which books are inside! Can we read them right away?!" On the first day a box arrived, my wiggly, chatty third graders cozied up and read quietly for almost thirty minutes!
I wish you could see their faces as we are learning about these rad women together: these untold stories of incredible courage, persistence, brilliance, and perseverance are truly inspiring them to become people who understand that we need to work together to raise each other up, regardless of gender. As Malala Yousafzai said, "One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world." From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for supporting the learning of my class in such a powerful way.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Vodopich
Kids Can Code!
Funded Mar 28, 2017I really cannot thank you enough for your support of this project. Our class currently shares a set of laptops with several other classes, and it can be difficult to get access to technology when we need it. In order to teach 21st-century learners, access to technology is a must! Having the six iPad minis in our room has completely changed how my students are able to learn.
There are many ways we are using the iPads in the classroom, from computer coding to story-writing to practicing math facts. My students now have the ability to practice essential third-grade skills whenever we need, such as technology literacy and communication, and it has had a tremendous impact on our learning! Walk into our classroom on any day, and you are sure to see students engaged with technology. One of the best ways we have used the iPads are for computer coding, which the students have been learning all year, but now can practice much more often. The students use the iPads to practice their coding skills, including designing their own video games and solving coding puzzles; some students have even used the iPads to code their Lego robots, which are a sight to behold! When my class is using the iPads, they are learning important computer science concepts and collaboration skills, and the level of engagement is incredibly high.
Today we used an app to create and publish e-books, which they are able to narrate, animate, and add sound effects to. The books will be shared with younger students and families, and go above and beyond what we are able to do in a traditional story-writing unit, thanks to the technology! You should have seen the looks on my students faces when they watched their stories come to life. It was amazing, and it was possible because of the technology. Again, I just want to say how grateful I am to have your support--getting iPads into the hands of my students has had such a positive impact on our class, and it's all because of generous donors like YOU!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Vodopich