Past projects 12
Support Young Artists with Adjustable Drafting Stools
Funded Aug 25, 2024We are incredibly grateful for your generous donation of industry-standard drafting stools to the art classroom at Skyline High School. Your contribution has transformed our learning environment, enabling students to work comfortably and effectively at the drafting tables. These stools not only enhance their artistic experience but also encourage creativity and innovation. Our students can now fully engage in their projects, honing their skills and expressing their ideas. Thank you for believing in the power of art education and supporting our young artists!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rachel Thomas
Comfort Corner: Health & Wellness for Art Students
Funded Aug 14, 2024I want to extend heartfelt gratitude for your generous contributions to our students' health and wellness at Skyline High School. Your support in providing tea, oatmeal, face and body wipes, and hair and tooth care items has made a tremendous impact. Students enjoy tea daily and look forward to oatmeal in the afternoons for a comforting boost. The Comfort Corner has become a safe haven, promoting well-being and community. Your kindness enables us to foster a nurturing environment where every student can thrive. Thank you for making a difference!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rachel Thomas
This classroom project was brought to life by The Gates Foundation and 19 other donors.Health and Comfort Items for All Students!
Funded Nov 17, 2023We are very thankful for your kind donation! It helped us purchased a lot of awsome products for our students such as: Tea!!, hygenic and comfort products, and everyday needs. The kids have been brewing soo much tea around the newly stocked and organized tea station. Your donation has for sure made this class more comfortable and more of a safe space for student to hangout and release lots of stress from school work, future goals and more- especially during college app season! You are amazing for the donation and we appreciate it very much :).”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rachel Thomas
This classroom project was brought to life by Townsend Press and 5 other donors.Health Items to Support Healthy, Arty Kids
Funded Feb 25, 2023I wanted to drop you a note to say a big "Thank you!!!" for your generous contribution to our public school classroom last spring. Your donation for snacks, tea, cups, and wellness items have seriously upgraded our space. Our students now have a cozier spot that helps them stay energized and focused, especially on long block days. Your kindness not only enhances their daily experience but also teaches them the importance of community and giving back. We're truly appreciative of your support for our students' education and health. Myself and my students appreciate your support for our education and health.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rachel Thomas
This classroom project was brought to life by A Northern California family and 6 other donors.Portfolios for AP Studio Art!
Funded Aug 9, 2022thank you so much for supporting my AP students with being able to transport and store thier artwork. As a result students have been keeping up with the AP timeline much easier than if they were not able to work on thier artwork at home as well.
Students also use thier portfolio to store oversized artwork that doesn't fit in their shared flatfiles. This makes our use of space in the classroom much more functional.
Lastly, this past weekend was the Bay Area National Portfolio Day, and some students used their portfolio to bring thier artwork for college application review.
Thank you so much for making this possible and relieving some of the stress that our senior AP students face!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rachel Thomas
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 8 other donors.Help Give My Students Basic Supplies for Distance Learning!
Funded Aug 22, 2020Thank you so much for your generous donation! As a result, students were all able to get some additional supplies for thier art kits to make them extra special. Students were able to get some basic supplies such as additional pencils and rulers, as well as a special request- a set of oil pastels! Getting students materials for distance learning is not only important for their success in my class, but also gives the students a sense of community, and shows them that they are loved and cared for. Thank you so much for supporting young artists of Oakland!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rachel Thomas
Art Kits for Distance Learning!
Funded Aug 11, 2020You have no idea how much support your donation provided my students! They were in awe of the level of quality and variety of materials we were able to provide, all thanks to you! The kids were so happy that they not only got a package of materials to use during distance learning, but that they got to keep them too. It's so important to show kids that they are loved, especially duing a time of so much hardship. This was one small way that really showed them that the community loves them and is here to support them. Students were able to make incredible paintings, colorful drawings and build thier artistic skills all thanks to you.
I appreciate you so much, and I hope you and your loved ones are well. Stay safe!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rachel Thomas
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 29 other donors.Security and High Quality Art Making!
Funded Jan 23, 2020thank you so much for your support! The students love the posca markers, and are already creating high quality art with them. The safe allows me to not have to lug the ipads to and from school as well, which saves my back. I can also lock other expensive materials and technology in there without worry. The gel pens are used to add details to watercolor and marker drawings, which the students love. They are great for creating highlights and contrast, which can be especially tough with watercolor.
Again, thank you so much for your donation! Myself and the students appreciate you so much, and you support high quality learning.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rachel Thomas
This classroom project was brought to life by Anonymous Arts Supporter and 3 other donors.IPads for Art! Help Replace Stolen Devices
Funded Sep 2, 2019Thank you so much for your donations to replace and supplement our classroom technology! The past few months our school and district has experienced a lot of theft- this has had a huge impact on our students' learning. Our admin and district teams are working to increase security across the entire campus, as there have been multiple break-ins. I will be taking the Ipads home every night to ensure that they are available for our learners to use in the classroom daily, and to protect your investment in our students' education.
I have downloaded multiple drawing programs for students to use, the most exciting being Procreate, along with a professional digital brush package that was created and compiled by artists at WeWork across the globe. Procreate is a professional level program that many artists are turning to instead of Photoshop for its ease of use. Students will also have access to the Adobe ipad versions of Photoshop and Illustrator, along with Autodesk and Sketchpad.
Students will also be able to use the ipads to use Google Classroom to document their artwork and access classroom resources. Students will be able to photograph and access reference photos for their artwork, as well as research artists that inspire them. It's so crucial for our students to have access industry standard materials, and with your support we made that happen!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rachel Thomas
Art Class Seeking Creative Reference Library! (& Wellness Supplies!)
Funded Aug 27, 2019Thank you so much for donating to our classroom for artist reference books and wellness supplies! We've only had the materials in for a couple weeks, but students are already engaging with them to support their learning! For example, one of my struggling students saw the "The Master Guide to Drawing Anime" book and got so excited, he signed it out for the week so he could work on his character development at home. Another student was so excited about Lisa Congdon's book "Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic" because Lisa happens to be one of her mother's favorite artists.
Throughout the year I will be pulling from these books to integrate them into our units of study and for students to use them as reference material for our projects. One of my students is really interested in medical illustration, and was using "The Sick Rose" to draw from (as photographed) the first week the book arrived. We often times feel that we can get all of the material, resources and reference photos from the internet, but these books themselves are a work of art, and my students appreciate that.
As for our wellness supplies, students have hypoallergenic hand soap and lotion for the year. They'll be able to dry their hands after clean-up with our two cases of paper towels (this is a big deal in our underfunded district!). We'll be able to sanitize tables during cold and flu season to keep the students healthy, and clean up spills during painting with our new commercial mop and bucket.
Many of these items seem basic, but have been increasingly hard to come by in our financially struggling district. With your support and generosity, our students now have the basic wellness supplies and artistic resource books they deserve.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rachel Thomas
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 16 other donors.