Past projects 40
Clubs Make for a Fun Year
Funded Oct 25, 2018The school library is the heart of the school. Everyone in the school, adult and child, are welcome in the space. It is a vibrant space in which students can imagine, create and make things happen. During lunch, there will be up to 60 young people participating in board games, the chess club, Maker Club, crafting or book clubs. A lot of the clubs are student organized and run. As the teacher librarian, I encourage students to figure out something they are curious about and discover ways to make these projects happen.
Thank you so much for supporting the imagination and curiosity of young people. They really appreciate the support in supplies to make their ideas come to fruition. They really cannot believe a thing like Donors Choose exists and that people they do not even know what to help them be great people. Thank you for helping them expand not only their imagination but ideas around generosity and giving back.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Taylor
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 4 other donors.Book Clubs Create Community
Funded Aug 13, 2018The rumors that young people love their phones more than people and do not read are just not true- I am happy to say. Students love to read and read with others. The book clubs at the library are some of the most popular clubs I facilitate. Students read the books on their own and we come together over hot chocolate and banana bread to talk big ideas, themes, our favorite characters, questions, thoughts, recommendations and more. Through the clubs we have created a culture of reading and community. Students love coming together in a peaceful environment to talk about stories.
Every student can be in the book clubs. We have several a month and include a graphic novel club, a teen romance club, novels and even a teacher book club. Students line up at the door to get the latest books, they are so excited to read.
The book clubs represent a cross-section of the school: girls, boys, non-binary, all backgrounds and identities participate in the clubs. It is great when teachers join the clubs because they come as equals and the students like debating them on: happy versus sad endings; do you read the ending first; or the meanings behind various symbols.
Thank you for bringing the joy of reading to our students. The book clubs are so simple yet are so much fun. Thank you so much.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Taylor
Safe Spaces for Creativity
Funded Jan 9, 2018Thank you for helping us create our own space to make music and be creative. We are having so much fun figuring things out, where things go, how it should look and just moving things around to look good and cozy. The music teacher has helped us out and we are learning a lot about space and actually how math fits into so much stuff.
Without your help and generosity this learning experience would not have happened. We all really appreciate you thinking of us and helping us out. Thank you for supporting our learning and growth.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Taylor
Teaching Peace
Funded Aug 10, 2017Thank you for supporting our efforts in teaching peace. The book Sadako and the Thousand Cranes is a beautiful book that year after year students love. It is a heartbreaking story that really touches all readers. This year, because of your generosity, we can try to make 1000 paper cranes and each student gets to keep this wonderful book. In this chaotic time, this book hopefully can inspire young people to work for peace and to believe in the possibility of a peace world for all. Stories have the ability to reach across all kinds of barriers to teach us how to empathizes and be better people.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Taylor
Marching Forward
Funded Jul 16, 2017The day the March Trilogy books came, the students were so excited to hold them and read them. The trilogy is a beautiful graphic memoir of a great hero in American history. The teacher librarian and I have worked on numerous lesson plans to teach the history behind the book and the students are hooked. They are fascinated by such a horrible and chaotic time and want to learn more. They are researching more and checking out other books about the topic. The memoir, told in a graphic form, engages all of the students and are completely engrossed in the lessons and the story.
Your generosity has been greatly appreciated by all.
Thank,
Mr. Whooley
8th Grade History”
With gratitude,
Ms. Taylor
Activist Pop Art
Funded Aug 10, 2017This year I moved into a brand new art room which was so very exciting yet very chaotic. The shelving was so helpful in being able to organize materials so that students can easily access supplies for our art projects. The students are currently working on their Activist Pop Art projects, learning about famous activists and how to represent them in art. They are having fun exploring colors and using the ipads to create this digital art piece. The printers are instrumental in making this project happen. The students are excited to see their work and up in the display cases too!
Thank you for your help in making our art class a vibrant place to learn.
From,
Ms. Simon
Art Teacher”
With gratitude,
Ms. Taylor
Making for the New Year
Funded Aug 10, 2017This is the third year the library has facilitated a Maker/Tinker Space and it is more streamlined and organized due to your help. Thank you for supporting our efforts in 3d Printing, electronics, raspberry pi, slime, volcanoes, leds, sewing, diy bubble gum and much more. The students love imagining a creation, figuring out how to make it happen and then doing it. Thank you for your generosity and kindness in making our Maker Space a great place to learn for ALL. The students love looking at the materials too and that often is just the spark they need to come up with a great idea.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Taylor
Taking Off With 3D Printing
Funded Apr 7, 2017Thank you for supporting our efforts in making cool stuff. With the 3D Printers, students have made dodecahedron lamps, mazes, parts for Retro Pi gaming, bracelets that take the students' name in a wave form, and robots! With an extra printer more students can print more stuff and therefore make more cool things.
Students, at first, are a little cautious about the printer. They do not know what to make at first and usually stick with keychains with their names. Now that a lot of students are using the printers and making so many wonderful things they are inspiring more students to do so.
Your contribution to our school library maker program is simply wonderful. It is thrilling to watch young minds at work. It is truly great watching students talk about ideas and then making them happen.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Taylor
This classroom project was brought to life by Salesforce.com Foundation and 12 other donors.Reading Together: Read Without Walls
Funded Dec 31, 2016Thank you for helping promote literacy at our school. Every month I facilitate two book clubs. Students read books on their free-time and then we come together for tea and cookies to discuss the book selection. We also will tweet the author about our feelings about the book and it is so fun when they tweet back. Students love these clubs. They like getting a new book, drinking tea (so grown up!) and sharing their ideas with each other.
Your help in getting books into the hands of the students is vital to promoting literacy and in getting young people reading. Thank you for help.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Taylor
Vibrant Maker & Tinker Space
Funded Mar 30, 2017Thank you for supporting our efforts in getting a Tinkering/ Maker Space going at our school. I facilitate a club at lunch and all girls class in making. Thanks to you we have worked on a lot of cool projects. Students are making their own perfume to salt water powered cars. Some are making solar powered cell phone chargers and others are making conductive slime for Makey Makey projects.
The great thing about having ample supplies is that the students can really get creative. They research some projects on popular sites such as Instructables while others are making up their own.
Your generosity and dedication to public education is greatly appreciated and celebrated.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Taylor
This classroom project was brought to life by Salesforce.com Foundation and 13 other donors.