Past projects 58
I'm Just Drooling Over It!
Funded Aug 1, 2022Thank you so much for your generous donations. My goal has been to have our students become more self sufficient when it comes to feeding themselves.
I have three students who have begun to feed themselves with less and less adult support. The large grips on the spoons have assisted them and the ability to angle the spoon. More food now goes in their mouths than on the floor.
The chewys have been assisting children in reducing the mouthing of other objects. They have also helped a few children stop putting fingers in their mouths. Eventually we will be able to reduce the use of the chewys too.
Thank you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Susannah
Steppin' Out!
Funded Aug 9, 2022Thank you so much for your generous donations. Our school is now equipped with a clothing closet for our students.
Our students have different kinds of accidents through a school day. Sometimes they result in socks and shoes being wet. Now we have a way for children to wear other shoes as theirs dry or go home in dry shoes.
We hope to expand our clothing closet with donations and eventually making it more than just for accidents. We hope to have a clothing closet for those students in need. You have helped kick off a huge future project.
Thank you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Susannah
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 5 other donors.Stylin' With Some School Clothes
Funded Apr 7, 2022Thank you so much for your donations. We have been using the closet already. Several children have needed to use clothes from the closet for various reasons. One child had a shirt that was not fitting and uncomfortable, another had shoes that were hurting her feet one day, and a few have had accidents. Teachers and assistants were able to quickly find clothing that the students could change into.
The students have been happy to have clothes to change into. They no longer had to feel uncomfortable with ill fitting clothing or wet clothing. The students that were able to take advantage of the closet were able to continue on with their school day without being distracted by their clothing.
The closet also inspired staff members to donate more clothing. So we have a bigger variety of sizes and clothing styles. We hope to have people continue to donate clothing and make the closet a more self-sustainable project.
Thank you again for your generous donations.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Susannah
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose community & an Anonymous Partner and 6 other donors.So Light 'Em Up Up Up
Funded Dec 23, 2021Thank you again for your wonderful donations. We were able to purchase enough charging stations for every classroom in our school. In most of our classrooms we have students that use Augmentative and Alternative Communication systems. Many of those are now in the forms of apps on an ipad. We have up to six such devices in some rooms. This has given us a way to charge multiple devices at the same time. Teachers have been able to charge several student devices at one time instead of playing musical chairs with the plugs.
The reception for these stations among our staff has been wonderful. Everyone was so excited to receive a station. Many of them were set up within the first week if not immediately. We even had an extra to put into the OT/PT room for students that travel there with their devices. It is often frustrating for our therapists to have the devices lose their charge as they are working too.
Students have already noticed that these are available for their devices. Students are already plugging in their own devices when they know they are not charged enough or losing the charge. We are already training other students to look at the battery icon and plug in their own device. This will allow for so much more independence at school and home for these students.
Thank you again for donating to a project that has made such an impact on a whole school!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Susannah
We Gotta Eat!
Funded Aug 8, 2021Thank you so much for your donations. The tough chewy tubes were being used to help reduce students putting their hands in their mouths. It has helped tremendously. We are having more success using the special utensils and bowls to support students feeding themselves.
The students started using the utensils right away. It is noticeably easier for them to feed themselves without spilling food or losing it off of the utensil. The students are not breaking the plastic forks or spoons during their meals anymore.
We will continue to present children with adaptive utensils and bowls so that we can move towards independent feeding. It is an activity of daily living that not only will make the student more independent but help their parents tremendously (and very happy)!
Thank you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Susannah
The Immersive ART Experience
Funded Aug 12, 2021Thank you so much for your donations. My students have been using the art materials to complete projects that connect to our speech work. Several students worked on using the carrier phrase "I see." We completed a little reader to go along with the work and they students were able to use the water color crayons to decorate the books.
The student interested in art have been excited in the choices we now have to decorate their work. Students find the larger glue sticks that go on purple before drying clear, easier to see and apply. Other students find the large pencils easier to grip.
We will continue to use these great art materials in different ways. There are so many more things to make and decorate.
Thank you for your support.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Susannah
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 2 other donors.Munch Munch Munch - I'm Gonna Learn How to Munch
Funded Sep 23, 2021Thank you for your wonderful donations! I ordered a large variety of foods that are considered meltable solids, foods that melt with saliva. The meltables are used to help students develop and maintain their chewing skills, learn to tolerate different textures, and as a tasty reward for hard work.
My students have been thrilled with all of the varied treats. The students are seeing and being presented with the meltables more often and tolerating them touching their mouth more often. I have students who are chewing more often and enjoy the crunchiness. And since there was so much, I have been able to use some of the meltables that do not melt as easily as rewards for students. In fact a few of them use their communication devices to request specific types.
I will continue to present these meltable to my students. I am going to start having students who are only tolerating them outside of their mouth, start to try and taste them. The student who is working on chewing will continue to work on extending the frequency of trials they can chew. Although we don't often give food as a reward, it is nice to have as a back up when no other reinforcer works.
Thank you very much.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Susannah
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.Running Out of Data
Funded Jan 18, 2021Thank you so much for your donations. You have given us the ability to use the correct published protocols for our assessments. In the past when we have run out we have had to rely on photocopies, which is not appropriate and can be very poorly done. It helps to have a clear and easy to read protocol. We have been able to grab and just go with the published protocols, you so generously donated towards, without worrying if we will have all of the pages and it is legible. This also allows us to complete our assessment, gather the data, and interpret the data into how we will help our students next, at a fast rate of speed. We can spend more time doing what we need to instead of worrying about gathering the paperwork first.
Thank you again.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Susannah
Speaking of Fun!
Funded Dec 23, 2020Thank you so much for your generous donations. Our students received different materials and activities that cover a wide variety of skills that need to be developed. Our students have been enjoying the new materials. Students found the materials engaging.
One student who is often resistant to any activity, jumped right into the skill building activity without protest. By using one of the new games another student, who has been working on prepositions, was able to show me that he needs to work on generalizing his skills. The Go Together cards have already lent themselves to a different type of activity that helped another student develop their skills of answering YES/NO factual questions spontaneously.
We have nhad the materials less than a week and already they have had a great impact. Thank you again for all of your donations.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Susannah
Let's App up the Assessments!
Funded Feb 15, 2020Thank you for your donations. It was great to be able to have ipad based assessments for some of my students. Originally it was going to be just used for my students who had difficulty sitting for paper and pen assessments or even just sitting for any assessment. Due to the COVID crisis having assessments on the ipad proved to be useful.
I was able to collect data using some of the assessments in school. Students who typically will only look at an ipad did find some the assessments intriguing and interacted with them. It allowed me to have data proving what I knew, the student had grown and met some of their goals.
Then we went remote. I was able to for a few students mirror my ipad on our remote platform. The students would tap the answer (they could not have control of the ipad unfortunately) and the parent would tell me what they hit. I would hit it for them and the student would get the feedback.
I am so glad that I have these resources for in person and remote learning. Thank you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Susannah