Adam Bomb Giving Page for TALC

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Thank you so much for all of your wonderful support for our sketchbook project.

We are a Title One school located in the inner city of Washington D.C. and have a majority immigrant population. Our parents want nothing but the best for our students, even though they might not be able to afford the luxury of purchasing a sketchbook or art supplies.

Through your kind support we are now able to provide our students with one of the tools that will help foster and develop the visual language of fine art. Our students in our wonderful community of learners are now able to express their ideas/thought through drawing in a personal journal that is their own.

The sketchbooks will be used as part of class projects and for the students own creative exploration.

At the end of the year we hope to be able to share some of our sketchbooks in an art exhibit.

Thank you so much for supporting our wonderful school and our amazing students and lastly the Arts!”

With gratitude,

Mr. g.

The pictures you see are from one of the recorder lesson sessions I held with my sixth grade students. They are learning about musical notation and fingering on the recorder, and I had them practice some notes as well as clap a beat with whole, half, quarter, and 8th notes. One of the reasons many of them have significant difficulty with reading and math is that the part of their brain that recognizes patterns doesn't function properly. However, we know that the more you practice music, the better your brain gets at seeing patterns, so it was a nice change for them to learn that something they enjoyed doing was helping them learn other things better as well.

Many of you donated to this project because you were inspired by Adam Lambert's wish for the preservation of arts education in our public schools. I know that Adam himself benefited from dedicated music and theater teachers and coaches from an early age; his promotion of the arts in schools is clearly his way of thanking all those who helped him along the way to his current success. I think even if he wasn't the success that he is, he understands how the arts can enrich anyone's life, as you all clearly do.

In our year-round school, we were off-track for January and February; we just returned the first week of March, and my students are asking for the recorder music lessons again. Several of them saw a group playing ukuleles recently and asked to learn that (I guess I'd better learn to play the ukulele real fast, right?); we also viewed videos of "Stomp" performances and now they want to compose one of those on their own. Some of them had learned some songs on the recorder in elementary school, but not by reading the music; now they know that the notes on the staff are the "language" of music, and they want to try writing their own. The recorders make it very easy for them to put down some notes and then play them to see if they sound good. They have folders for storing their handouts that they keep with the recorders in the carts you provided, and can relax while playing because the music stands hold up their materials for easy view. My other classes have heard about this and they want recorder music lessons, too, which I will certainly provide.”

With gratitude,

Ms. K.

Thank you so much for your kind donation to our music classroom. Our students truly love this instrument and already have had the opportunity to present a concert for the entire school to hear this lovely instrument. It has a wonderful sound and compliments the other orff instruments we have in our class.

There are innumerable uses we have for this instrument and it is of high quality that will endure much use throughout the school year. The younger students get a real kick out of the size and sound and constantly want to touch it.

We really thank you for going out of your way to make this project happen for our school. People like you help inspire future generations through your generosity. Thank you so much for making my students smile with the gift you have rewarded them with. You have made a sacrifice towards their education and well being. We thank you again and again.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Fergins

Thank you for your kind support! As you can see from the photos, my students are delighted with the career costumes and baby dolls that you so generously supplied. I am thrilled to watch them interact with each other while using these supplies. Their laughter and enjoyment continually entertain me. I have seen these supplies benefit my students in many ways.

The students eagerly look forward to "station time" so they might have the chance to role-play with the costumes. They imagine a challenging disaster where a community helper is needed, and then they jump in to save the day! As they play, they are learning to interact appropriately and share the costumes.

Having these costumes has given the students a chance to learn responsibility for supplies. They take pride in these items; therefore, they put them away neatly and play appropriately together.

Because they have tools to inspire their imagination, many students have big dreams. One student recently told me that she wants to be a nurse, instead of "not growing up" because she likes taking care of the dolls and wearing the nurse uniform. These are the moments that make me smile. I hope you smile as you think of our classroom enjoying your kindness and generosity. Your support has made our Make Believe more believable. J”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Brinkerhoff

Thank you for your generosity for funding the Middle School Art History Reference Materials Grant. The resources that have been donated have and will continue to be used to support the art history and criticism component of the art curriculum.

My students are eager artists who thrive on understanding the visual world around them including the artworks that are highlighted in the numerous art collections and museums throughout New York City. These materials you have donated have been used to inspire them as art historians and artists. This past month I have taken each of the six seventh grade classes to The Metropolitan Museum. Upon returning to school the kids were ecstatic to use the reference materials to better understand the works they viewed!

I hope you enjoy the photos of my inquisitive art students using the reference materials as well as the works of art they've created in conjunction with the art history lessons from the books you donated.

”

With gratitude,

Ms. m.

Thank you very much for your generous donation to our classroom. You should have seen the look on the children's faces when I opened the box of our dramatic play outfits and our cash register!

Today was the first day we explored the materials and I already can see how much it will benefit the students in the classroom! There was so much language and cooperating when playing "restaurant" in class today. Students also verbally shared what occupation they were and what they did. ("I am a chef, I cook!").”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Rivero

On behalf of my enthusiastic first graders, THANK YOU for funding Digital Divide!

We are loving having the option to record events as both pictures and as videos. It has opened a wide range of possibilities for my students. The first week we had the camera, we were studying school safety rules. Each year, I've had my students illustrate our campus safety rules. My students this year wanted to incorporate our new digital camera. They wrote "mini-plays" for each rule, and videotaped their classmates acting out each safety rule. We then were able to paste each video and photo into a PowerPoint document to share with our PreK students, showing them how to be safe on our campus.

This camera is already an integral part of our classroom, and we can't wait to see what wonderful ideas and projects we come up with in the future!

Again, thank you!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Burran

Thank you so much again for donating the Groovy Music Series to our school. My students have been very excited to use it and they ask to use it all the time. Since the materials have been received, all 800 students have been able to use the program at least two and three times. There are two parts to each program; explore and create. With the exploration part of the program, the students learn more about music, including instruments and theory that is appropriate for their level. In the create portion of Groovy Music, each student creates music using pictures that represent different rhythms, melodies, chords, arpeggios, etc. They are able to create many different songs, using the preprogrammed pictures, and once they are familiar with Groovy Music, the students can go in and adjust the instrumentation as well as the notation and create their own unique parts and songs. We will be having classes later in the year that will focus on listening to each of the students compositions.

Again, I thank you all for your generous donations. Without your help, my students would never have had the opportunity to use such a wonderful program. They are learning while enjoying themselves and they are discovering talents that many of them never knew they had and for that, I thank you with all my heart!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Schraut

Thank you so much for the lighting supplies you have sent our children. When we started this program three years ago, I walked into a completely empty stage - bare walls, no equipment, and few kids.

We have a great staff and administration who bend over backwards to help our department. However, there are only so many resources to go around.

We have build our department up to the point where about 9% of the student population performs in our department at some point during the year.

Your donation helps the students see that they and our department are special and important. By giving them lighting equipment, these students don't just learn about the performing arts. They experience first hand how teamwork, motivation, and creativity impact their work and themselves. Thank you again for your donation!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Shariffskul