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Chris "Catfish" Socha's Mustache

Part of: Charlotte Growers
  • $1,197raised
  • 17projects funded
  • 16schools served
  • 17teachers supported
It is with mixed emotions that I am participating in Mustaches for Kids. That's right, for the next four weeks, I will be subjecting myself to public humiliation and private doubt by growing what will no-doubt be a ridiculous looking Mustache. In order to justify this endeavor I need your support. Please sponsor my Mustache by picking a classroom project from the list below to support. And wish me and my Mustache luck. (By the way, DonorsChoose.org is a 501(c)3 charity. See below for ... more
It is with mixed emotions that I am participating in Mustaches for Kids. That's right, for the next four weeks, I will be subjecting myself to public humiliation and private doubt by growing what will no-doubt be a ridiculous looking Mustache. In order to justify this endeavor I need your support. Please sponsor my Mustache by picking a classroom project from the list below to support. And wish me and my Mustache luck. (By the way, DonorsChoose.org is a 501(c)3 charity. See below for approvals from Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau.) hide
  • I Can't Find My....Well Anything....

    Funded Apr 8, 2010

    I would like to take a minute to express my gratitude of your generosity. As a special education teacher, I have noticed that we are at the bottom of the supply totem pole. However, because of the charity of people like you, my students are able to get the things they need to soar academically.

    By having materials to help us organize our class, my students can benefit from learning and practicing skills using hands on materials. They will be able to learn not only from myself but through their own exploration. This is imperative to their education. They will be excited to put things away "in there correct place". A whole new world has been opened because of your kindness.

    I, as well as my students, thank you from the bottoms our hearts. We were so excited to receive our packages in the mail. As a teacher, it is thrilling to see the same glow that they have at Christmas, when new materials come. They race to pick up the boxes from the office, and I can't seem to open them fast enough. By getting supplies, that excitement will continue. Therefore they will continue to be motivated to learn.

    I thank you again, and wish you all the health and happiness in the world. ”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. M.

  • Practically Perfect Pianos!

    Funded Apr 23, 2010

    I found out about DonorsChoose.org from a music teacher list serv I subscribe to. Several teachers shared their success stories with the list serv subscribers. My initial reaction was "Good for you! I'm so glad you were able to find such a neat resource for your classroom." And then I thought, "I sure wish I could find a resource like DonorsChoose.org for my classroom." Because there are so many, many needy organizations and schools in the world, I have a hard time asking for supplies that I know would really benefit my students. I am so glad that I finally took a deep breath and filled out a donorschoose.org request for pianos in my classroom. I was completely amazed and filled with gratitude when all of you made the request a reality and wish you could have seen the kids faces when they walked into the music room and saw the pianos. They are the perfect size for my pre-school through 4th grade students and the first requested by my older students because they don't have to share with anyone. I have been able to incorporate more hands on music reading and playing activities into my curriculum because of your generous donation. Students get more time to practice and perform with the additional pianos which is wonderful from a "classroom management" view and from a "student engagement" view. I have a group ensemble performance of Beethovan's Ode to Joy planned for our winter concert this year with as many students as possible all playing at the same time - it will be beyond lovely! You are all making this word a much better place one student, one school, one random act of kindness at a time. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the gift for my students!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Pfister

  • Take Me Home, and Read Me!

    Funded Jan 26, 2010

    Thank you so much for providing take home readers for my classroom! The students loved them and we were able to use them for even more than take home readers! We received so many great books that we were also able to utilize them during our silent reading time. I was able to color code the books according to their reading level and place them in corresponding crates. Each student was assigned a color (which also happened to be the color of their reading workshop groups). They then knew what books were at their level and each day chose their own books to read. They loved the books because there were not only fiction books, like most books are on a first grade level, but there were also some great non fiction books as well! The students had a great time and they were also able to pick from these crates for their take home readers as well. Parents even commented that they liked the new books because their kids were much more excited to read the new attractive materials. As a result, kids began to read at home again and were even able to track their improvements by when they were able to move up to the next color, or level of books. Thank you so much for renewing the excitement of reading in our classroom. I hope you realize the impact that you have just made for 19 six and seven year Olds in my classroom. ”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Secor

  • Eager to Listen!

    Funded Feb 18, 2010

    The back jack chairs that were provided from your generous donations has had a huge impact on my students in more ways than I expected. They love having these chairs to sit on as they read individually, view media or listen to story time. They feel special and privileged as if they are sitting in a movie theater as they sit on our carpeted area with the back jacks. However, the most benefit has been, for the first time, our physically challenged students are able to sit with the other students when we sit on the carpet. They feel like they are included with all students. This is far beyond what I expected a simple chair could do. So, I sincerely thank you for opening your hearts for my students. ”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. White

  • First Grade Team Needs Own Copier!

    Funded Feb 12, 2010

    Thank you so much from the First Grade Class C4 for funding our need to have a printer in the classroom. It has cut down on the time spent waiting in line at the copy room to use an available copy machine (in our school there are only two and there are 25 teachers plus administrators that use them). The students love the fact that the literacy work can be created on the spot after having a lesson done and then having the work printed out. The children love to be the "Printer Paper Copier Passer" (a title the children created when they saw the new printer) and love to wait by the printer until the copies are done and then pass them out to the other students. The printer has enabled me as a teacher to implement it as an incentive to attain for behavior management. The students are good with their behavior, work, and classroom participation then they are chose for the day to be the Printer Paper Copier Passer. As for me, I love it because I use it as a copier as well as to print out work that I have created on my netbook. I simply hook up the netbook to the printer via USB and I can have copies done on the spot. Again, thank you, the students and myself are humbled that generous people have reached out to help in a classroom that was in need of necessary and expedient equipment.”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Febles

  • Watch it Grow!

    Funded Feb 5, 2010

    Thank you for your generous support of my Donors Choose project. The window greenhouses have given my students the opportunity to plant seeds and actually watch the seeds as they grow. Many of my students live in an apartment and would not get the chance to experience watching plants grow without your help.

    In the current economy, budget cuts are directly impacting the materials available in the classroom. The greenhouses and the scientific classification center have already enriched the learning experience for my students this year and will continue to do so for years to come.

    Wonderful donors like you make a difference in the education of students everywhere.”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Outen

    This classroom project was brought to life by Burroughs Wellcome Fund and 2 other donors.
  • Netbook Newbies

    Funded Feb 2, 2010

    Thank you all so very much for choosing to donate to our class project. With the addition of the two netbooks to our classroom computer inventory, students have had more opportunities for computer time during the instructional day. As a result, student interest and engagement have increased, as well as academic performance.

    With budget cuts increasing each year and technology quickly becoming outdated in the schools, it is becoming more and more difficult each year to teach students 21st century skills with up to date equipment. Thanks to your generation donations, my current and future students will be able to avoid these unfortunate circumstances.

    Thank you again for funding our project!!!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Pardon

    This classroom project was brought to life by HP and National Lab Day and 14 other donors.
  • Penmanship is Important!

    Funded Feb 9, 2010

    I hope you have a chance to look at the photos of my students using the "Penmanship is Important" materials that you bought for us. My students have used the materials daily and have become great writers--not just with "what" they write about, but "how" they write also. Your generosity has enabled my students to practice their handwriting skills and to use those skills with all the different types of writing they do--personal narratives, poems, letters, books, etc. One of the pictures that I uploaded shows that my students used their penmanship skills to complete a beautiful letter to their mothers for Mother's Day.

    I am so proud of their efforts with their penmanship. They now realize that it is important to know how to form letters/words correctly so that ANYONE will be able to read their written work. The dry-erase boards that YOU bought for us were a great "starting point" because everyone could easily practice their penmanship skills. Mistakes were easily erasable with no tears about the paper being messy or putting holes in it (yes, this happens in First Grade). What's fantastic is that they took those skills from the dry-erase boards and put them to use on the paper that we use for other written work. (Sometimes it is not so easy for a First Grader to see that what you do in one place can be used in another situation). They also chose to use their new penmanship skills when they had "free time" to explore materials on their own in the classroom. They would get out the dry-erase boards and practice, or use them in their imaginative play.

    Thank you again for stepping up to help my class. Great penmanship is a skill that they will take with them for the rest of their lives. ”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Mercurio

  • Let's Get Wired!

    Funded Feb 5, 2010

    The circuit boards that were purchased through you have changed our whole unit of study on electricity. Our students were engaged, inquisitive and literally did not want science to end when they were working on the circuit boards. As a teacher, I thoroughly enjoyed listening and watching my students working together, discussing why a project works and problem-solving when it did not. An example from one of our experiments referenced the ability for some materials to be good conductors of electricity, while other materials are better insulators. After reading the information in our textbook, students were able to put this theory into practice using the circuit boards. They quickly realized that the rubber band did not allow electric current to flow, as it was an example of an insulator, but the paperclip they tried worked well as a conductor. Had they not been able to experiment with this concept directly, their understanding would have greatly limited.

    We would really like to thank you for making our science unit more interesting for our students. We will be able to use the circuit boards for many years to come. Your contribution has greatly influenced students' enthusiasm towards science, and will set them on a course for more successful experimentation and problem solving throughout their studies. ”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Buchta

  • Shaping the Land

    Funded Feb 11, 2010

    Thank you again, for providing the funds to purchase stream tables for my fifth graders. Many students were unfamiliar with stream tables and the students were excited about learning how to use them. Working with the stream tables truly advanced my learners' knowledge about how water shapes the earth.

    My future geologists better understand water erosion concepts through conducting stream table investigations dealing with the water cycle, stream formation, and water erosion. Our work is not done because we will continue to use the steam tables to learn many other important concepts about how water and land interact.

    There are many aha moments as the students connect the concrete experiences of conducting stream table investigations to information that they are learning from text, visuals and digital media. When we are discussing weathering and erosion, my students make important connections between what they witness during their stream table investigations and the science content they are expected to master.

    Your generous donation will not only benefit the students of this year's graduating class, but also many future fifth grade classes. I could not make the positive impact on my students' science learning without you. Thank you very much and I truly appreciate you.”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. James

    This classroom project was brought to life by Burroughs Wellcome Fund and 8 other donors.
Start my own page
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