Past projects 7
"Out of the Woods and Onto the Stage"
Funded Apr 11, 2025Because of your generosity we are fully funded! Now we are able to begin dress rehearsals and practice using props. We are so excited to show you the final product that our students and staff have been working on creating over the past few months. We hope you will be as proud of us as we are!!! Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Sara
"Press Start", the Video Game Musical
Funded Feb 15, 2024Thank you so much for helping us bring our video game dream to life by funding the costumes and props for our performance of "Press Start". The show was a huge success and our students were incredibly proud of their work!
"Press Start" told the story of three ordinary friends who are transformed into famous video game sidekicks - Luigi, Tails, and Ms. Pac-Man - by the evil Discordius the Fragmented (a character we created and designed!)They embarked on a grand adventure through 7, iconic video game worlds (one for each class) in order to save Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man and the whole video game universe. Along the way, they faced unique challenges and learned valuable life lessons, all while practicing important skills like teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving.
Your donations provided us with special and unique costumes for all of our students in each musical number. Because of you, we were able to bring so many iconic video game characters to life, from Mario and Luigi's plumber costumes to the colorful array of Pac-Man's ghosts, to the snapping alligators teeth as they tried to gobble up the Frogs in Frogger.
Your donations helped build our actors' confidence to perform in character and create an amazing, high quality final production. Additionally, now we have these items in our permanent collection and can use them in shows for years to come!
Thank you again for your support!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Sara
Broadway Beats for Special Education
Funded Mar 12, 2023Thank you so much for helping us bring Broadway to our community by funding the costumes and props for our performance of "Broadway Beats". The show was a huge success and our students were incredibly proud of their work!
"Broadway Beats" told the story of five graduates, and great friends, who meet up for a reunion in New York City to see a Broadway show. But they don't know what show to see! Guided by a Magic Playbill, the audience follows our main cast as they visit eight different famous Broadway musicals, one presented by each class.
Your donations provided us with special and unique costumes for all of our students in each musical number. Because of you, we were able to bring so many iconic characters to life, from Dorothy and her ruby slippers, to Beetlejuice's signature black and white stripes, to Troy Bolton's basketball jersey. You helped us to "Seize the Day" (that's a Newsies reference - one you understand if you saw the show!). Other scenes included Latin dancing from "Get On Your Feet", going "Footloose" in homemade t's and jeans, getting retro with "Grease", and our 60's showstopper - "Can't Stop the Beat" from "Hairspray".
Your donations helped build our actors' confidence to perform in character and create an amazing, high quality final production. Additionally, now we have these items in our permanent collection and can use them in shows for years to come!
Thank you again for your support!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Sara
Virtual Video Festival 2022
Funded Mar 19, 2022Thank you so much for funding the costumes and props for our virtual performance "CoVideo Festival 2022". The show was a huge success and our students were incredibly proud of their work.
The plot: the main characters, four friends, Bailey, Gina, Elizeo, and Jasmir, are finally able to hang out after months of staying home and learning virtually. They all gather at Bailey's house to show each other videos they found during quarantine, inspiring each other to exercise (Workout Video, Sports Demo), eat well (Cooking Show), dance (TikTok Dance, Shakers, Scarf Dance, Music Video), learn (Riverview News) and laugh together (Comedy Variety Show).
Our students were so excited to receive professional looking costumes (cheerleading outfits, Spiderman suit, raincoat, chef's hats) and props (bubble maker, stuffed animals, tropical cups) and began using them right away for rehearsal. Your donation helped give our actors the confidence to perform in character and create an amazing, high quality final production. Additionally, now we have these items in our permanent collection and can use them in shows for years to come!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Sara
A World of Pure Imagination
Funded Mar 10, 2019We cannot thank you enough for your generous donations. These beautiful costumes (dresses, shirts, shorts, gloves, hats, suspenders) added so much authenticity to our end-of-year performance. Our students recreated the classic and updated looks of all the beloved "Willy Wonka" characters, such as Agustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teavee and the Oompa Loompas. The addition of the special costumes you helped provide allowed our students to show off their shining personalities (think urban Oompa Loompa Remix!) and created extra excitement and professionalism to the performance.
Many of our students struggle with sensory issues (aversion to certain textures, materials, etc.) on a day to day basis so it was extra important to help them find and/or create costume pieces that were appropriate for their performance, while being comfortable for everyone to wear. As soon as we received the costumes and unboxed them in the classroom, the students' eyes lit up! Everyone was eager to try on the pieces and show them off in an impromptu fashion show in the hallway. Everyone came out of their classrooms to see and cheer for the Oompa Loompa Crew!! The show was a huge success and our students felt proud and accomplished.
We are so thankful and plan to use these costume pieces in different creative iterations in our arts program for years to come!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Sara
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 20 other donors."All That Glitters IS Gold": Creative Costuming In The Arts
Funded Mar 27, 2018We cannot thank you enough for your generous donations. These beautiful gold costumes (pants, long sleeved zippered shirts, and hats) added flair, style, and excitement to our end-of-year performance. Our students danced to Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" while shaking illuminated maracas and tambourines. The addition of the special costumes you helped provide allowed our students to show off their shining personalities and created extra excitement and professionalism to the performance.
Many of our students struggle with sensory issues (aversion to certain textures, materials, etc.) on a day to day basis so it was extra important to help them find and/or create costume pieces that were appropriate for their performance, while being comfortable for everyone to wear. As soon as we received the costumes and unboxed them in the classroom, the students' eyes lit up! Everyone was eager to try on the pieces and show them off in an impromptu fashion show in the hallway. Everyone came out of their classrooms to see and cheer for "The Saucy Six Shakers"!! The show was a huge success and our students felt proud and accomplished.
We are so thankful and plan to use these costume pieces in different creative iterations in our arts program for years to come!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Sara
This classroom project was brought to life by Ripple and 8 other donors.Color Our World!
Funded Mar 9, 2016Thank you to everyone who donated to our project and helped us "color our world"! After we received our new printer and cartridges we were able to use our new resources in many ways. During day-to-day classroom activities, printing resources in color helps our students learn with more clarity and realism. It allows for a more intense level of differentiation, which helps all of our students gain access to learning. For example, we were able to print out our "emotions" chart as it is meant to be used, with corresponding colors (yellow- happy, red - angry, green - calm, blue - sad) which allows our students to more easily identify and communicate their feelings and begin to identify and relate to others' feelings. We were also able to print our "Give me 20" boards in color. These are non-dynamic communication boards that feature the most relevant and frequently used symbols that non or limited verbal students can use to communicate with throughout the day. It features icons such as "yes", "no", "bathroom" "my turn," "your turn," and "more". When these resources are printed in color, the students are more engaged with the material and have an easier time accessing the tools for communication.
Our color printed materials have also enhanced engagement and differentiation in academic learning and exploration.
Our students love reading "Pete the Cat" books, many of which involve colors and color patterns as crucial elements in the story (i.e. "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons", "Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes", "Pete the Cat and His Magic Blue Sunglasses"). With our color printer we were able to create custom made worksheets and learning materials involving color identification, patterns, and story sequencing (i.e. first Pete's shoes were white, then he stepped in strawberries and they turned red, next he stepped in blueberries and they turned blue....). In addition, our classroom word wall is much more engaging to our students now, with colored images accompanying each letter, encouraging students to use their natural curiosity to identify the letters and words.
In math, our students have been reading "Ten Red Apples" by Pat Hutchins and have been able to understand the concept of subtraction by manipulating our color printed red apples and working with custom made subtraction worksheets.
In science, our students are using vibrant images of animals and nature to reconstruct and explore various animal habitats and in social studies, our students have created their family trees using color printed pictures of their beloved family members.
None of these projects would be as accessible or engaging to our beautiful children without our amazing new materials...thanks to you!
Our next steps will be to help create and build props and costumes for our annual "ArtsConnection" performance in December, in addition to continuing our vibrant work in English/Language Arts, mathematics, science, social studies, social skills, and emotional literacy!!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Sara