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Thank you for your contribution to the telescope that we now have in our classroom. My students were excited to see the telescope and decided to find out if it was reflective or refracting. They used information we had read on different types of telescopes and decided that it must be a refracting telescope. Students also compared our telescope to the Zeiss telescope they saw at the Griffith Observatory.

We are in the process of observing the skies for planets etc using information that we obtain from astronomy websites.

Without donors like yourselves, classrooms will find it difficult to engage students to phenomena in the world around us.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Gregory-Obiamiwe

Dear Roboteers....

We of the computer lab want to extend a big hearty thank you again for your generous support of our robots project. We have begun assembling the two types of robots – one runs on solar power, the other is battery run (though it is constructed with recycled materials!) – and already the results are very telling. Students are engrossed in not just the assembly of the robots, but are curious enough to begin doing research about the history of robots. If time allows, we will create a robot timeline. As the school year winds down, this is a great project to close out the computer program. Thank you again for giving our amazing students an opportunity to view (and touch, build, create) technology not just one dimensionally, but in the greater context of what is know as STEM (science, technology, engineering, math).

THIS ROBOT DOES COMPUTE!”

With gratitude,

Mx. A.R.

The members of Team Grumpy would like to thank you for your generous donation to our project. Robotics started as an after-school program in 2007 with robots borrowed from another school and some laptops that were so slow and so old that when one broke, the district just threw it away rather than try to fix it. Today we have robotics as a class during the school day, but the heart and soul of robotics is our after-school program. Team Grumpy is part of the after-school robotics club and we still have to raise our own funds to keep it operating. Thanks to your generous donations, we were able to receive this great laptop.

Members of Team Grumpy use this laptop to program their LEGO Mindstorms NXT robots to compete in FIRST LEGO League as well as competitions sponsored by our school. Team Grumpy did a great job this year, winning a Judges Award and Robot Design Award. They couldn't have done it without your donations and this great laptop.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Kamiya

Thank you so much for your very generous donation to our class. It never ceases to amaze me how total strangers can be so kind. I commend you for taking such an interest in the future generation and caring about their education. The children are always so excited when I explain to them how people like you care enough to contribute these items to them. They are at an age where they can fully understand what's involved and show appreciation for what they have received. I only wish you could be there to see their faces when we receive the donations - it's priceless!

The donation you have sent has helped us tremendously this school year. I have been fortunate enough to receive these journals for the past couple of years and I will continue to ask for these journals in the future because they really make such a difference in many ways. We are required to do what is called a math problem of the day every morning. The Math Problem Solving Journals which you have donated already have a word problem for each day. Working out these problems consistently each morning has helped the children consistently improve their math skills. It has also helped prepare them for the State Math Exam which they will be taking this upcoming week. On this exam, the children will encounter numerous word problems. Solving word problems is always an area in which the children struggle the most on the test. I believe,

because of your donation, these children have shown major improvement in this area and are well prepared for this exam. Thanks to you, my job was a little bit easier this school year.

In addition, the Correct the Sentence Journals that were donated also helped the children to be successful - specifically in the area of writing. Many of the children come from households where English is a second language. Because of this fact, many of the children have a hard time learning to write grammatically correct. The journals have assisted these children and have helped them improve in this area as well. I am so proud to say that I have seen remarkable improvements in my students this year.

Please continue to do what you have done - that is, making a difference in the lives of children. Thanks again!”

With gratitude,

Ms. DiTomasso

Dear Donors,

My students as well as myself would like to thank you for your generous contribution of the Henrietta Lacks novel. My students have had the chance to enrich their knowledge of science through literacy. This book has increased their vocabulary, enhanced their understanding of cell reproduction and cancer, and challenged their thoughts on many moral and ethical issues.

Each day students come to class eager to read in our book and are disappointed on days when time is not allotted. Students ask to read more and can't put the book down. As standards and curriculum continue increase and grow in rigor, it is pertinent to expose kids to higher levels of reading. With this novel I feel as though my students were not only introduced to a high interest text but also one that was challenging and relevant to the Biology curriculum. Seeing my students get excited about reading while learning important material was truly rewarding.”

With gratitude,

Ms. DonLevy

I'm writing to update you on the impact of our wonderful new document camera! The students were genuinely touched and impressed with your donation. In fact, I was even a bit surprised at how mature and sincere they were in their gratitude! They treat the technology with great respect, so it has been holding up quite well. They never play around with it (expect to occasionally project a silly message when I'm not looking!) and in fact, they are fascinated by it. I get lots of compliments on my manicures, now.

One unanticipated benefit has been that when I'm ready to move on to the next page of notes, I have a hard copy that I can remove from the screen and pass around the room to any students who have fallen behind. This would be impossible with projecting an electronic version or writing on the board and erasing. This has been especially and unexpectedly motivational for my struggling students, who no longer feel left behind or lost in the fast pace of the class. Thank you so much for helping them feel empowered to study and improve!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Sullivan

I wanted to thank you again for your generous donation to my classroom. My students have used these materials regularly in order to explore the world of physics. They used the spring apparatus to discover Hooke's Law and used the optics kit to determine how concave and convex lenses bend light. They have explored the world around them rather than being told how it works.

The benefit of these materials extends beyond my physics classroom. Students in younger grades have seen our activities and are now interested in taking Physics later on. Now, because of your generosity, my school will be able to offer students a Physics experience that is more in-line with modern methods of teaching and learning science, something that will benefit them greatly as they make their way into college and the world beyond.

Thank you again for the wonderful opportunity that you have given to my students. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Noland

I can't begin to thank you enough for your generous donations to support my classroom and my students' learning. The Elmo you've collectively donated helps my students daily! We use it to project worksheets and fill in pieces step by step, to display images and artifacts, and to showcase and edit student work. The Elmo is used regularly, throughout every period of the day.

Our budget doesn't include class materials or lab supplies, so without your help, my students would be without the necessary, appropriate technologies to facilitate their scientific learning. In order to ensure equitable access to material for all my students, it's incredibly important to have visual displays to keep them on task and following along, as well as to keep them engaged.

Your contributions have meant the world to my students and their learning.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Riffer

Thank you for your wonderful donations. My students have just begun exploring all the wonderful science kits that you have donated. These kits have helped my students explore the world around them. They are becoming better critical thinkers and hopefully one day be future scientist.

They have learned how to clean water, build electromagnets and be engineers by building roller coasters, create out own soda and make wind powered cars. We have so many more activities to do for the rest of the year. These kits will not only impact the current group of students, they will allow me to continue this after school club for the next few years to come.

With donors like you, many minds will be open to the world around them.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Villa