Empirical Zeal's DonorsChoose Page

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This is a small demonstration of my gratitude for your generous donation to my classroom. The dragster bodies that you provided have helped my students learn all about Newton's Laws of motion, and how physics applies to real life. They learned all about acceleration, force, mass, and friction thanks to your help. My students also got the unique and wonderful experience of getting to actually make something using power tools. This was new to most of them and they were thrilled with the opportunity. My students were extremely excited to finish their cars and show them off to friends and family. They have a new found confidence in themselves and their own abilities thanks to this project. My students have also gained a wonderful basis on which to build more science and engineering skills. Our school does not have much money for more than the basics, and this project was essential in getting students started down that STEM road to success! Without your support and help it never would have happened. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and from the hearts of all my students! We appreciate you immensely.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Heissenbuttel

Getting this tablet has been a saving grace for my students. I was able to find a bunch of apps through the app store to enhance the students learning. We were able to buy or get for free some educational apps that involve videos, various touch screen activities and practice quizzes for the upcoming Regents test. One student was able to use the tablet on a daily basis to review for his Regents/RCT's test that he had failed the previous year. I am happy to say he took 3 Regents/RCT's and and passed them all this time around in January. He was extremely proud of himself for this accomplishment. This student also suffers from test anxiety. Another student uses it to help her in Spanish to translate various words. This same student can use it as a communication device as well because she is hard to understand at times due to her disability. All in all having this tablet has made a tremendous impact on my students. Thank you all for your generous contributions.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Merkel

It has now been several months that my students have had our Science magazines in my classroom, and they have been quite the success! After quizzes and tests students have time to read through the periodicals, and they increasingly want to show me what they're reading or quiz me on the topics (which is usually beyond my realm of science knowledge). One exceptionally intriguing part of the magazine is a picture on the back cover; readers are supposed to guess what the picture is. Some of these pictures are still quite the mystery, but apparently a select few helicopters can fly upside down.

Since my Physical Science classes are learning Physics concepts much faster than Chemistry concepts (Physics is Phun!) I'm planning to use these magazines as guided reading tools on Fridays to increase my students' scientific literacy skills and help increase the amount of non-fiction they are reading (Common Core is pulling toward 70% of all literature in classrooms as non-fiction).

With your help I have been able to realize just how innately curious my students are. I know they like to ask lots of questions (and we've been learning recently the difference between relevant and irrelevant questions), but these magazines have let me see a true curiosity, a thirst for knowledge, come out of my kids. While often they don't want to "do work" after a quiz or test, they truly want to learn, and these magazines give them another opportunity to do just that.

Thank you again for all your support and guidance!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Ackley

Thank you for providing goggles and lab aprons for the Science Lab at One World. As you can see from the pictures, the students have already done a number of labs involving this equipment. They have tested the relationship of particle size to dissolving rate, measured respiration in yeast, investigated feeding patterns using owl pellets, and in a couple weeks they will model digestion (very messy!). These labs would not have been possible without the safety equipment you donated.

In addition to keeping them safe, my students are more engaged in the lab and say they "feel like real scientists" on days when they are wearing their goggles. The fun colors always generate excitement and they tend to be more serious about their work in the laboratory. This excitement has boiled over into other labs where the use of aprons and goggles are unnecessary.

Many students lose a passion for science as they move through grade school. I believe that much of this is due to the loss of hands-on labs and learning. Thank you for keeping this practice alive at One World!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Garcia

I am truly inspired by the support that has been given for this project! The planetarium was missing a key element, a sound system, and all of you have made this possible! I can't even begin to explain how ecstatic our class is!

The sound system that you have funded is being used to share astronomy knowledge with students' peers and elementary students. The sound system is allowing students to create planetarium shows that come alive for all audiences. Through the use of this technology, my astronomy students are able to share what they have learned about our world and universe.

I am incredibly excited to put up the planetarium again in the fall and share the love astronomy with more students.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Anderson

I am pleased to have the opportunity to say thank you for your help in acquiring a Nook Tablet for my classroom. Several parents in my classroom have also expressed their gratitude when they have visited the class and seen the students using the tablet.

The students use the tablet during center time every day. I was thrilled to see them as they quickly learned how to do the activities by themselves.

The use of the tablet has impacted my classroom by allowing my students to experience technology and learning activities that may not be available to them at home or in other classrooms.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Mccants

I am so excited to be able to use these spring scales in my classes. Because you have funded the entire set, I have a wide variety of ranges that will expand my ability to design labs for a number of applications.

The students in one class have already put the scales to work to devise scenarios that would alter the calculation of work done - using simple machines like ramps and inclines and changing surface textures.

I have also been able to pull our some outmoded force tables for my physics students and re-design the investigations around the more complete and more accurate new spring scales. Now I can have another means for teaching static equilibrium of forces that will really help the students understand the concept.

Thank you SO much for your support of science in our school.”

With gratitude,

Teacher Raymond

Thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart for your generous donations. You have all made my life so much easier, by giving me some of the tools I need to teach my students with high needs. You have also highly impacted the amount of learning that goes on in my classroom. The sensory materials you all donated have helped give my students the breaks they need from classwork, in order to succeed in academics.

One of the students impacted most has been Shania, my student with Rhett's syndrome, which is a degenerative muscle disease. Her muscles are so tense, especially her jaw. She constantly picks up anything in her path (including scissors, pencils, papers anything!) and puts it in her mouth just to be able to grind on it. Since we have recieved a chewy tube necklace from your donations Shania is able to chew on something safely and constantly. It has really changed our classroom dynamic because she is happier and my staff and I are not constantly worried she is going to put something harmful in her mouth.

That is just one example of what your donations have done, the play money, and shape sorting kit have done wonders to enhance my students' learning. Thank you so much!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Kennedy