Past projects 9
Let's Make Yarn Friends Together!
Funded Mar 15, 2025You have no idea what this means to us!! We have been meeting with students and creating small "friends" that provide us with creativity, time to chat together, but also some comfort and a time to pause. We will make a great deal more to give to our school community. I thank you for your generosity in keeping craft/crocheting in high school students' lives!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gaytan
Noisy and Engaged
Funded Sep 11, 2023Thank you very much for your generosity. My International students, who come from about 30 different countries, had asked me to give them ways to expand their vocabulary. As one students told me "I want to sound smart". So we have been having fun with vocabulary quizzes. For these quizzes, I project word on the smart board giving students time to write the answers, creating both a definition and a sentence using the word. We have used words such as inanimate, ephemeral, illusion.
We participated in small groups of 3 students, so this was a fun and collaborative activity. My students loved the buzzers and they were eager to participate, always trying to beat the timer!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gaytan
This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Cares.Turning Students' Life Stories Into a Book!
Funded Apr 26, 2023This was a wonderful project, where students got to use characterization to talk about their life stories. We had stories that talk about friendships, about love for animals, the importance of communication during stressing times, we also had queens, kings, cats, tigers, and basketballs and baseballs using suspenders!
My students were able to explore many mediums and finally use book binding techniques to complete a wonderful piece of art work.
Thank you for making such a fun and challenging project happen.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gaytan
Reviving The Tradition of Thank You Cards
Funded Nov 17, 2022I really can not thank you enough for this donation. My students are having a great deal of fun exploring the art of card making with the idea of a "Thank you card". For many of my students, this is a tradition that they are not very familiar with, so they are challenging themselves with creative cards to express both creativity and thankfulness.
At the moment they are finishing their Fall portfolios and getting closer and closer to graduation. Many of my students are the first ones to go to college. These cards represent their gratefulness, but also their hopes and dreams, and those of their families.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gaytan
This classroom project was brought to life by The Walt Disney Company and 5 other donors.Let's Make Some Noise With the Right Answers!
Funded Mar 20, 2022Never underestimate competition and noise! Whoever said that students can't have fun whilst learning. With these buzzers, we have been practicing the right answers for SAT and ELA Regents, but also, having so much fun trying to make some noise with those right answers.
When we learn, it is better to do it in small groups, but at times it is difficult to engage all students. We created teams and now everyone wants to have a turn and use these buzzers!
Thank you for your donation. You have helped us make learning fun.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gaytan
Futuristic Sci-Fi Books That Warns Us About Technology
Funded Oct 26, 2021You have no idea the fun we had with this Unit!! All thanks to you! Our idea first came after a whole year of relying heavily on technology, so we started to wonder... How does technology and pop culture affect us, positively or negatively? Should we trust technology? Can technology be and friend or a foe?
First we did Book clubs, some students chose Little Eyes and we had the Spanish version, Kentukis(Thanks to your donation!) Some students chose Exhalation, also, thanks to your generous donation. These Futuristic Sci-Fi Books gave our students the platform to learn about the warnings of technology. As a summative assessment, students created and designed a Technology gadget! See the pictures of their presentations!We had such creative projects.
Thank you again for supporting us with this Unit.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gaytan
This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and 6 other donors.Adding Voices to Our Library
Funded Aug 24, 2021My students are reading!! These books, such America Like Me by America Ferrara and How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa are stories were my students see themselves. People that look like them. People whose parents come from another culture and they are faced with living in a duality. Many of my students made many connections to their own lives with these two titles.
Our students choose the books and created small Book Club sessions. In the end, they presented both a poster and recorded a ten minute Book Club oral assessment.
Thank you, thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gaytan
This classroom project was brought to life by Emerson Collective and 7 other donors.Warmth, Care & Hunger - Eye Exams and Glasses
Funded Apr 19, 2017You have given my students a wonderful gift, the gift of seeing, the gift of being able to learn better, the gift of feeling that they are appreciated. Your donations have meant a great deal to them, but also to their families and their teachers. Some of you mentioned your struggles with poor vision and the change it made to your lives once you were able to get glasses. Now my students have that gift, thanks to your generous donations.
From the moment she arrived, Dr Nguyen was extremely patient and professional with the students, she even had a chance to practice her Spanish! Our students were very skeptical at the beginning, they could not believe that there are people out there, people like you, who are selfless and wish to help strangers. Our students need to hear from caring and kind people like you. Thanks to you, my students were able to receive eye exams and free glasses delivered to their school, all completely free.
Also, because Warby Parker donated all the frames, not only my students are able to see better, they are looking very stylish! As soon as she put her glasses, one of the students screamed, "Oh, I did not realize I was supposed to see this clear." She has worn her glasses every single day.
I thank you all for your selfless gift.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gaytan
This classroom project was brought to life by Warby Parker and 37 other donors.Digital Camera for High School Newspaper
Funded Nov 25, 2015Thank you for the camera! We have been having loads of fun with it. We are now able to use it whenever we have field trips and to keep our school informed of what others are doing. The camera has helped us document student achievements, the funny moments, the not so happy ones, but in general, has helped us create a close(er)-knit school community. Prior to your generous donation, students were using their camera phones to document these events.
The newsletter is a fairly new club at our school, but week by week, we strive for a better product and the camera is surely a great part of that.
I leave you with a note from our "The Whisper" managing editor, "I want to thank you for the camera that you have given us, we sure will use it properly! As one of the first members of The Whisper, our mission has always been to grow, before this camera we did not have any tool to give our newsletter that feeling of professionalism. Thanks to your donation, you have taken our Newsletter to a whole new plateau! We feel very grateful. This camera is the best gift we could have ever ask for."”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gaytan