Past projects 53
A Spot for You, a Spot for Me!
Funded Jun 21, 2024Thank you for our fun new carpet! The kids were so excited! They couldn't stop gushing over how big and bright it was. Now we have enough space for everyone to have a seat and find a focused learning spot.
Our carpet is a community-oriented spot. We do so much in that area! Storytime, group games, Freeze Dance, and more. Sitting all together as a group helps students form bonds with each other. It helps students stay focused because they are all facing the same direction. And, of course, it is nice to sit on something soft and bright.
Thank you again for donating to our classroom. We truly appreciate it.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Makovec
Classroom Essentials for Kinders
Funded Nov 20, 2023Thank you for your generosity towards my students and our classroom. Teaching and learning are so much easier when you have the needed resources at hand.
We had a joyful and productive year in kindergarten! My students learned their ABCs, their numbers, and many foundational skills to support their future learning. They learned to spell and read many words. Practicing with stamps, sand, and other sensory materials helped bolster their learning. The trays from this project helped me to provide messy hands-on learning opportunities in a way that kept our classroom neat and tidy. I will be able to use many of these materials again and again in years to come. Thanks again for your help!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Makovec
This classroom project was brought to life by Johnson Ohana Foundation and one other donor.Creative Kinders
Funded Aug 14, 2023Thank you for the legos and self-portrait materials!
My students love getting creative with the Legos. They have the best time making people and robots using the emotions. Then they take their Lego creations to different play areas and incorporate them into their pretend play. Children learn by exploring and recreating the world around them. It is valuable to give them materials that support these endeavors.
We also greatly enjoyed the self-portrait materials. After creating self-portraits as a whole group, I noticed students using the materials again and again to make portraits of their friends and families. They explored race, culture, and ethnicity as they discussed with one another why they chose certain skin tones and added pictures to the backgrounds.
I appreciate you supporting my students' creativity and academic endeavors. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Makovec
Puzzling With Friends
Funded Aug 2, 2023My students love these puzzles! They are just difficult enough that they require teamwork. Seeing my students work together to solve puzzles is so exciting! They support each other along the way by giving clues "We need to find the letter H because it comes after G!" and compliments "Good job! Wow we did it!!" The best part is when they are finished and call everyone over to take a look. Their classmates oooh and aaah while I take a photo to share with their families.
Solving difficult puzzles brings not only joy but a wealth of skills. They are learning that practice leads to progress. They are learning to work collaboratively with classmates. And, of course, they are practicing skills like counting and learning the alphabet.
Thank you so much for your donation.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Makovec
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.Cultivating Joy During a Difficult Year
Funded Jan 14, 2022Thank you for your kindness and generosity during a very difficult school year. When my students saw that we would be doubling our classroom Magna-Tiles, they absolutely flipped! They were so excited to make larger, more intricate castles, dinosaur houses, parking garages, and whatever else their creative minds could imagine! It was especially rewarding to see large groups of students work together on these creations.
Public schools are facing challenging times, and I want to thank you for helping us teachers and students find joy and opportunity in our daily classroom activities.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Makovec
This classroom project was brought to life by A Northern California family and one other donor.Bilingual Books for Kinders
Funded Nov 20, 2020Thank you for donating in order to help me purchase these beautiful books for my students! One of the most rewarding parts of my job is cultivating a love of reading and learning in my students. It has always been important for me to allow my English Learners to borrow books written in their native languages. This was challenging during the pandemic because I could not facilitate my usual take-home book library. This project gave me the opportunity to send home books in Spanish, Chinese, and Tagalog so that students could read with their families. Additionally, I was able to purchase a few class sets of bilingual books so that everyone could enjoy the book during class and with their families. My students fell in love with these books and were proud to add them to their home libraries!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting my class during this difficult year. It means the world to me.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Makovec
Take-Home Libraries for Kinders
Funded Sep 9, 2020One of my favorite parts of being a teacher is opening up my take-home library so that students can take home any book they want to read with their families. That hasn't been possible this year due to COVID-19 concerns.
Instead, my colleague and I worked hard to curate a collection of books to give to our students that would elicit joy while teaching them important skills such as rhyming, comprehension, and more. Putting books in our students' hands has been invaluable during remote learning. Instead of constantly looking at a computer screen, my students can take out a real book to use while practicing our skills. Even better, it has been a joy to see students reading these books with their families.
Thank you so much for making all of this possible! My students and their families will enjoy these books for years to come.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Makovec
Learning Kits for a Different Kind of School Year
Funded Aug 11, 2020I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for funding these learning kits for my students.
This school year, I have been absolutely blown away by how well my 5- and 6-year-olds have adapted to remote learning! My students show up to Zoom class every single day. They have backpacks full of supplies that enable them to participate in hands-on learning despite our difficult situation. It warms my heart to see students enjoying learning while working with their magnetic letters and whiteboards. We manage to have fun even through the computer screen!
In all honesty, I wasn't sure how this school year would pan out. Thanks to your generosity, my students have everything they need to thrive in their new learning environments. Although I hope to share a safe learning space with them soon, I am comforted knowing that remote learning is effective in the interim.
Thank you so much.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Makovec
This classroom project was brought to life by A Generous Donor and 7 other donors.New Year, New Supplies
Funded Aug 13, 2019Thank you for helping to provide these beautiful materials to my class. I introduced the kinetic sand and Play-doh on the first day of school, and they were favorites for the entire school year. My students used Play-doh for a variety of structured and open-ended activities. For example, they could be found making letters and words as part of literacy activities or creating entire pretend meals during Choice Time. What's better than Play-doh spaghetti and ice cream?
Something wonderful about incorporating hands-on materials is the creativity and friendship they inspire. One particular story it brings to mind is when a new student started in November. On one of her first days in our class, she created a diorama out of kinetic sand, play dinosaurs, and cardboard creations. Two of her classmates were so impressed they decided to adopt her as their new best friend.
The last few months of this school year were challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I feel grateful that my students had formed such strong bonds up until March that they were able to engage somewhat seamlessly into remote learning.
Thank you for investing in my students' education and creativity. I am forever grateful!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Makovec
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 4 other donors.Snacks for the New Year
Funded Oct 30, 2019We greatly appreciate your donation of snacks. These keep my students' brains fueled up for learning all day every day. I am incredibly proud of the growth they have made this year. All of my students are growing in ways that are personal to them. For instance, a child who used to scribble is now writing legible letters and numbers! A student who used to count to 12 can now count to 100! Students who recognized less than 15 letters in the fall are now reading grade-level appropriate books with a variety of sight words and simple words they can sound out.
Providing daily snacks helps me give my students a comfortable learning environment that meets their physical needs. With full bellies, they are ready to take on the world!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Makovec
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 6 other donors.