Ms. Kight Witham's Classroom Edit display name

Current requests

Past projects 41

• Books to Buoy Us

  Funded Aug 29, 2024

  Thank you for contributing more amazing reads to our classroom!

  Students began to use them in fall around World Mental Health Day and are continuing to work with these materials and we are looking forward to using them for May's Mental Health Awareness Month.

  Students will work in literature circles to select a text they are interested in and read it in community with their peers. They will present their new understandings about mental health and connect it to current issues using "The Happiness Lab" podcast.

  Thank you for enriching our offerings for our scholars and inspiring them to learn more about their own wellness!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kight Witham

• Building Digital Wellness in the Age of Distraction

  Funded May 9, 2024

  Thank you so much for supplying our class with these vital resources that will inspire our young scholars to look more closely at what our phones and screens are doing to our attention, self-confidence, and connection.

  This book was instrumental in helping our students understand the WHY behind our district's shift to a phone-free school day. Because my students used this book as one of our first class-wide reads in the fall they had a depth of knowledge around the science behind what our "WMDs" (wireless mobile devices) are doing to our brains and hearts.

  As we near the end of our year, students will reflect on their "tech checks" that we did throughout the year to assess our own habits, and they will use the book again to cite evidence around describing our phone policy shift.

  Thank you for enriching our offerings for our scholars and helping them grapple with our digital age.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kight Witham

  This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Supporter and 5 other donors.

• Books to Inspire Climate Action

  Funded May 8, 2024

  Thank you so much for supplying our class with these vital resources that will inspire our young scholars to map new understandings of how to address the climate crisis.

  From fiction like The Overstory to essays on climate action in Rebecca Solnit's Not Too Late, students will use these readings to deepen their understanding of environmental issues.

  We are looking forward to eco-literature circles that will empower students to select a text they are interested in and read it in community with their peers. They will present on their learning and connect to a current event for our Earth Day projects.

  Thank you for enriching our offerings for our scholars and inspiring them to make positive change.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kight Witham

  This classroom project was brought to life by Young Sheldon on CBS and 7 other donors.

• Brilliant Books to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

  Funded Sep 21, 2023

  Thank you so much for stocking our class library with fresh books showing a broad range of Hispanic and Latiné perspectives. Students read in community with one another in literature circles, held mini-Socratic Seminars to discuss questions and key passages, and later used these books as mentor texts to guide them as they embarked upon their own novel-writing adventure.

  With generous donations like yours, teachers can stock their classrooms quickly with the latest titles from today's YA authors. Abundant libraries with books by diverse authors helps students see themselves and others through different lenses. This builds a community of open-minded, curious, compassionate learners.

  We are so grateful for your support!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kight Witham

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 7 other donors.

• Seating and Supplies for Centering Community Circles

  Funded Mar 28, 2023

  Thank you so much for supporting our "Oasis" Space with stools, a folding screen and other materials. In my Peer Support elective students practice mindfulness, community circle facilitation, and peer check-ins for School Day Intervention. They receive training to become peer mediators with the Western Justice Center.

  Last year our Peer Support Team reinvigorated an unused classroom and transformed it into a restorative space we named "The Oasis," where School Day Intervention, peer mediation, and community circles are held. This space is also used for our Psychiatric Social Worker who joined our existing mental health team to broaden supports for our school.

  These supplies have contributed to a peaceful, relaxing, restorative place where we circle up, share, listen, and connect. We are so grateful for your generosity!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kight Witham

• Calming Area for an Oasis on Campus

  Funded Jan 3, 2023

  Our wellness center is taking shape! We are so grateful to have received support to transform a room into an "oasis space" for staff and students. Our peer support class has been working to set the space up, and creating art with the materials to decorate the walls.

  We have more to do, but have already hosted a peer mediation session in the room, a staff support snack and drink buffet, community circles, and planning meetings for our Wellness Fair.

  The space feels so homey and cozy! Thank you for helping us put the art and wellness into public education!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kight Witham

• Open Our Hearts With Homegoing

  Funded Aug 28, 2022

  Thanks to your generosity, three classes of 10th grade scholars were able to read Yaa Gyasi's stunning debut novel, Homegoing. This story takes readers through 300 years of history along a fractured family tree: one half sister is rooted in Ghana, married into the slave trade, the other is enslaved, sold, and ends up in America.

  The chapters alternate between their descendants, and each story vividly portrays the multi-faceted experiences of this complex, resilient family, as well as the way racial injustice morphs and twists over time. It also shows how individuals resist injustice, and fight toward greater equality.

  Students connected the novel to their studies of world history, with each chapter offering a specific lens on different time periods and concepts they were studying. They also used it as a mentor text when it came time to craft their own novels during National Novel Writing Month.

  Thank you so much for quickly funding this vital project. It will benefit students for years to come!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kight Witham

• Great Books For Young Novelists

  Funded Sep 24, 2021

  Thank you for inspiring our National Novel Writing Month adventure with new reads for our young novelists!

  Students have been captivated by "Towers Falling" and the historical perspective offered. They have loved the novel-in-verse "The Poet X" and the compelling ghost-narrator of "Ghost Boys." My fantasy lovers have enjoyed "Woven in Moonlight" and "When You Trap a Tiger." It has been wonderful to see the community of readers these books have created in my students.

  Students find themselves in great books like these, and then had the inspiration to make compelling stories of their own during November. We wrote A LOT! Thank you for enriching our imaginations with great books!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kight Witham

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 6 other donors.

• Books to Bring Us Together

  Funded Aug 12, 2021

  Oh, the Joy of an In-Person Reading Community! Thank you so much for your generosity in supporting our young scholars as they create a community of readers with the books you have donated.

  Favorites have included "Banned Book Club," "Everything Sad is Untrue," and "Song Below Water." Students are reading every day in class, and building an independent reading habit at home. These books have been a source of endless delight.

  As we continue with our fall semester students will be forming Literature circles to build more community with these great reads. Thank you so much for supporting our classroom library to help our scholars reconnect with a love of reading!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Kight Witham

  This classroom project was brought to life by Emerson Collective and 2 other donors.