Past projects 12
The Culture of Sports: Learning Through Cricket
Funded Apr 27, 2016Dear Donors,
I wish you could have been at school to see the fun my students had trying the new cultural experience of playing cricket! After the initial learning curve of figuring out the mechanics of the game (which only took each class about 10-15 minutes), the students were excited, competitive, and enthusiastic cricket-players! It was so awesome to see my students trying something outside of their comfort zones, but everyone tried and had a great time playing.
The first day in class we passed around the cricket supplies you bought us so that each student could feel the pieces, practice holding the bat properly, learn what each part of the set is called, and experience the difference of cricket bowling compared to baseball pitching. We watched two instructional videos about the rules of the game and different strategies for getting players out. Our classroom is big enough that the students set up the room to model what the cricket field would look like and get a sense of what they would need to do when we went outside. When the big day finally came and the rain subsided, we went outside onto the school's lawn to play the real game. I loved watching my students cheer for members of their team and talk about different strategies to get the other team out. We even have one student in class from India who showed us all what cricket REALLY looks like. It was an amazing moment for that student because he normally struggles in class, but that day he was able to be in the role of "expert."
All year long I have tried to offer students different opportunities to learn about and experience other cultures. Our class is built on the enduring understanding of tolerance for those different that us, and playing cricket is just another way that my students can now bridge the gap between people from other countries and cultures. For many students who do not typically love school and academics, the resources you provided for us allowed them to have a fun and unique learning experience. Sporting equipment may seem like such a trivial classroom resource, but it really opened the door for many, many teachable moments. Thank you for making that happen for my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. White
Deliberating for a Better Democracy
Funded Mar 16, 2015It seems that each year teachers race against time to introduce students to as much content in as high of a quality way as possible. In the past, I have struggled each semester to provide my high school seniors with the most meaningful experience possible for the final unit of our course, which is about foreign policy and international relations. I am so proud to say that this semester has been by far my best experience with this final unit, and it is all thanks to your generosity in donating the funds needed to purchase this deliberation curriculum tool.
In the final weeks of school, my students spent time digging into the resources in order to gain a better understanding of the United States' role in the world. The resources you provided allowed us to prepare to look at this role through an environmental lens, a public health lens, a governmental lens, and an economic lens. The students were engaged throughout the preparation process, and did an amazing job deliberating their points of view.
The deliberation is, of course, the best part because the students have a foundational understanding of the concepts to ground their own opinions and beliefs. They then challenge each other and pull in additional resources as they hone their own opinions and beliefs. I can say with confidence that my students probably know significantly more than the average American citizen about U.S. foreign policy because of this experience. Many had their own misconceptions corrected, and others gained a deeper understanding of terms they have heard on the news and radio but never had context to understand.
Thank you for being willing to give in order that my students, our future generation, can make informed, fact-based, judgments and decisions regarding this complex topic. They are better citizens and better advocates of foreign policy actions for it. Additionally, thank you for providing me with the resources to make me a better educator and provide my students with a more well-rounded, comprehensive experience.”
With gratitude,
Ms. White
Project Citizen Showcase
Funded Mar 23, 2014Our very first Project Citizen Showcase was a huge success! Thank you so much for contributing to and supporting this project. Over 130 people attended the event including students, families, other school faculty, and members of the community. Our panels of distinguished judges included university faculty, local government officials, and community leaders. It was truly a wonderful evening where Government students and Nutrition and Wellness students could showcase their talents and skills in an authentic environment.
As the evening commenced, a parent of one of my students approached me. She said how pleased she was that we were having such an event because her son, a senior in high school, had never been this excited or motivated about a school project that she could remember. That is quite telling of the impact this event had on the students and their families. Many community members echoed the same sentiment. Ultimately your contribution to this project supported the students in practicing informed, participatory citizenship and actually using the course content in the real world. Experiences like these are invaluable to students. We are nurturing world-changers, and for these things I cannot say "thank you" enough.”
With gratitude,
Ms. White
Planting The Seed: Food For Thought
Funded Jan 13, 2013I wish you all could have been at our school last week when we worked on a civic education project that involved redesigning a vacant playground on our school property. The absolute highlight of the day for me was watching the student who has taken the greatest initiative with the plants from this grant walk out of the school absolutely beaming about the fact that he cared for a plant to the point of getting it big and healthy enough to plant outside. He was filled with utter joy! It was priceless watching him talk to the other students about the plant, and none of that would have been possible without your contributions. I am also pleased to report that the Venus fly trap cultures that we received through your generous donation are still doing very well in our contained science lab hood where they are temperature and humidity controlled. They are a frequent topic of discussion for any and all students and community members who walk through the science lab because people are fascinated that we are growing Venus fly traps in test tubes! In addition to providing endless educational opportunities, your generous donations continue to bring joy and ownership to our school community. The kids love nurturing living things, even if they are plants. I cannot thank you enough, and I wish you could be here to share in the joy with us.”
With gratitude,
Ms. White
International Sports & Recreation
Funded Feb 14, 2013Words can hardly express the monumental and exciting things that have happened at our school thanks to your generous donations. A particularly challenging student became very invested in the course curriculum for one of the first times EVER! Not only did he learn about a new sport that he was unfamiliar with, but he even gave a demonstration speech to the class about how to play it! The students had an absolute ball learning a sport that they were not as familiar with as basketball, baseball, and American rules football. All of the students were challenged to participate and try the sport, and they all did. They laughed as they struggled to catch a Lacrosse ball in the Lacrosse stick, which requires very different skills than catching with your hands. The student who completed his speech earned a credit that day and enjoyed going around from partner group to partner group giving tips to the students to become better Lacrosse players. Since then, the students anxiously await their chances to try again and again and become better at the sport. Your donations did exactly what I had hoped they would AND MORE! Thank you so much for supporting me, my students, and our curriculum.”
With gratitude,
Ms. White
This classroom project was brought to life by Kroger and 3 other donors.Taking a Stand--With Tripods
Funded Dec 29, 2011Thank you so much for your donation, which allowed our students to have tripods for their video projects in Digital Media Class and for our other students to use during other creative projects. Your contribution has not gone unnoticed as the students have utilized the video cameras for many, many projects. Additionally, our staff has benefited from these items as well as we have been able to record our students' presentations in the community and as a useful tool for offering student feedback. We also hope to make use of these resources over the summer as we allow students creative elective opportunities and continue to refine our own practice as educators. Thank you for seeing past pencils and paper as academic tools and opening your minds to the possibility of digital media and technology as a very powerful teaching tool for our students. Our students and school community will continue to benefit from these resources for many years to come!”
With gratitude,
Ms. White
This classroom project was brought to life by Townsend Press and 3 other donors.Hear While You're Here--at School!
Funded Nov 27, 2011One of the challenges of working with at-risk students is helping them appropriately navigate social situations that they find undesirable. Your contribution, which purchased a class set of headphones for my students, has been a huge help and comfort for my students who do a much better job focusing on their academic life when they can tune out the rest of the world. Additionally, the headphones have allowed me, as a teacher, to better utilize a computer program called My Big Campus (essentially a classroom version of Facebook) to post videos and other audiovisual resources that engage my students in their course content. One thing that makes Oakland High School different from other schools is that we try to meet each child where they are presently at, which means individualizing instruction for everyone. As such, most of the students are in different academic places that the student next to them. The use of headphones has helped me tremendously as a teacher because I can assign specific tasks or resources to each student that not everyone in the class needs to access. This would not be possible in such a broad way without your contributions.
Thank you, again, for your support. Not only have you made a positive contribution to the lives of many at-risk students, but you have also helped me become a better educator that integrate”
With gratitude,
Ms. White
Geocaching Geo-literacy
Funded Dec 17, 2010After overcoming many, many trials in order to get the proper (and working) equipment I requested for this grant, I am very happy to inform you that we received and implemented everything successfully! Due to rain, I had to modify the outside activity and bring it inside for a lesson on how to hold, use, and read a compass; then, I set the students off on a maze through the building. Even though the students know the building very well, navigating through a specific path using directions and a compass was more challenging than they thought! They had a great time using the compasses and seeing how a digital GPS could work for them as well. I think they were shocked that the "real" compass doesn't work like Google Maps or Mapquest. Any activity that can not only get them up out of their desks, is good, but the best kind of learning experience is one that gets them moving with real world objects and manipulatives that they might actually encounter and/or use in their lives outside of high school. This kind of learning experience is rare, and it certainly could not be done frequently or at all without donors like you who support high quality education and practical application. Thank you for donating your resources in order to give my students this opportunity. Most of them had never seen a real compass until today. That in and of itself is a gift. Learning how to use a compass and navigating their way through a familiar place with true geographical terms is more than a one-time gift; it's a life-long skill. Again, thank you for helping me broaden my students' horizons with a fun and very practical activity.”
With gratitude,
Ms. White
A Cultural Melting Pot...But How Did We Get Here??
Funded Dec 10, 2010Thank you for so quickly funding this project that supplied my classroom with books about immigration experiences of children. Even though I teach high school students, I have learned to never underestimate the power of sitting on carpet squares on the floor and reading aloud, which is exactly what we did. As I read true stories to my students about other students their age and their immigrant experiences, my students began to empathize with what it might be like to go through those circumstances themselves. In addition, they began to ask questions about traveling abroad to deepen their cultural understanding of the world. Many students showed and interest in being a foreign exchange student as well. Although that is not the same as being an immigrant student, it was really exciting to see them get excited about expanding their life experiences. We had a very lively discussion after reading some of the immigrant students' stories about not only what that would be like, but where my students want to travel abroad. My students also gained a new appreciation for the experiences that our foreign exchange student from Germany endured when he first arrived in the United States. It was such a positive experience on so many levels! I cannot thank you enough!”
With gratitude,
Ms. White
This classroom project was brought to life by Townsend Press and 5 other donors.Promoting Tolerance...This I Believe
Funded Oct 20, 2010Thank you so much for your contribution to the class sets of This I Believe books. As we studied culture across the world, specifically different religions, it became clear that my students wanted an opportunity to tell their own story and share their own beliefs. After reading about lots of different people, real people, in the This I Believe books, the students wrote their own "This I Believe Essay." Your books inspired them to really dig deep about what they believe. One of the challenges of writing a "This I Believe Essay" is targeting one specific belief that the writer is very passionate about. My students were challenged to target that one belief and then tell a story about how that belief has affected their live and/or how they came to believe that. In the pictures, you will see the students excitedly holding up their books AND their very own essay. We plan on making a class version of the This I Believe books, written and edited by the students themselves. Thank you for making this possible.”
With gratitude,
Ms. White
This classroom project was brought to life by Townsend Press and one other donor.