Kerrin Wolf's Mustache

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My students were thrilled when these materials arrived in class. My students greatly enjoyed "The Cask of Amontillado" in October and asked me for more stories to read from Edgar Allan Poe. When the books arrived, several students immediately signed the books out and returned the following Monday and wanted to discuss "The Pit and the Pendulum." My freshman, who often argue with me before sitting down to read that they don't want to read boring stories, approached me to do a story discussion. Those moments make me so proud to be a teacher. Additionally, since the Poe books were Kaplan SAT Vocabulary books, my students were exposed to SAT vocabulary and were actively using these words in class to show off in front of their classmates.

As for the Washington Irving books, they were used in my EOP- English 3 class. This is a program for students 17+ who have dropped out or are looking for an alternate education path. Many of the students had heard of Sleepy Hollow- but only the recent film, not the actual story. They were amazed at how different the story was from the movie. Many enjoyed Irving's writing style, and some found it interesting to break down his wordy sentences and put it in modern language. Without these books, my students would not have had the opportunity to read Irving's famous "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

Thank you so much for these books. I know that my current students and future students will benefit from these materials.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Hession

Thank you for your generous donation to my classroom. Until "The House on Mango Street" arrived, my students were stuck reading boring stories from our textbook that they could not connect to or become interested in. Once we started reading this book, my students could not put it down! They followed the main character's journey with unparalleled interest and enjoyed analyzing each character. There is no doubt in my mind that your donation has made my students stronger readers and thinkers.

Without donors like you, my students would not have had the opportunity to enjoy and learn from this text. Thank you. ”

With gratitude,

Ms. Marian

It is with immense gratitude that I write this note of thanks. You have given my students a chance at learning the skills of chess, improving on what they already new, and enabled us to have our first ever Middle School Chess Team at Fitzsimons. We started with five players and due to your generous contributions we expanded to a TWENTY member team. This would not have been possible without your gifts of kindness. We had a successful season and definitely looking forward to growing our numbers and ability next year.

Also, the classroom novels that we were so graciously awarded due to your donations have opened up a world that my students were not aware of before opening the books. Also, most of my boys were reading at a 4th grade reading level and now 80% of my classes are up to a 6 or 7th grade reading level.... THANKS TO YOU!

From the bottom of my heart I thank you.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Kozel

There are not words enough to express my gratitude for your caring and generosity. The calculators that were purchase for my classroom have had a dramatic effect on the way that students approach mathematics. They have helped to improve student investment and confidence in their work as well as made collaboration fun and interesting.

We use the calculators nearly every day, and students treat them as though they are precious. For some students, the calculators are an easy way to check their work and gain confidence in their answers. For other students these calculators are the difference between feeling frustrated and feeling successful. During group work the students use the calculator to check each others work and to make sure they are answering each problem correctly.

Furthermore, the calculators were essential during our state testing. Before this year, not all students in my grade could use a calculator because there weren't enough. Now, each student has the skills and the materials to be successful. This has greatly leveled the playing field for my students.

In a time of educational budget cuts, it is really amazing to know there are individuals like you out there willing to fill the void.

”

With gratitude,

Ms. Maxwell

We have been working with many staff members on projects and we want to thank all of you who helped get this project going and get it done!!! The t-shirts have been a big hit around the school and students come in daily to make designs for screen printing. We have also helped fundraise for other sports and clubs with their designs and the project supplies. Overall it could no have turned out any better...we thank you soooo much. Projects like this help build school moral and gives kids something positive to give to the school...it's a win-win situation....and your help made it happen..THANKS!!!!”

With gratitude,

Mr. Boyd

I would like to thank all of you for being so generous. My students love the projector, and they have truly benefited from the use of technology in the classroom. The projector makes the lessons more interactive, engaging and motivating. The visual stimulus is perfect for my ELLs and students with IEPs. I am able to show students visuals of vocabulary words, short video clips to activate background knowledge prior to beginning a new unit, and play games to practice reading and math skills.

Again, your kindness has helped my students achieve academic success in an engaging manner. Thank you so much!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Huckin

Thank you so much for your support. We just returned from our trip. The kids loved the backpacks. It made packing and traveling as a group so much easier. They felt like adventurers heading out in to the Wild West. We had two different groups of students use them so far. Some students took them to the Dominican Republic for a service learning trip while others traveled on a river rafting trip to Arizona and Utah. We are including pictures from both trips as well as a few of the packs. The packs were awesome, but we thought you'd also enjoy pictures of the trips they traveled on.

Please continue to support education, especially experiential education.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Thompson

I can not even begin to explain the importance of this thank you letter and what it actually means to me and my students. With your donation and support, my students were able to calculate problems with fractions, decimals, exponents, unlike terms, and many more. They were also able to take on the PSSA with confidence knowing that they had the aide of this calculator.

If you could have seen the way the students reacted to your gift, you would have been satisfied with the impact of your gift. They were delighted and wanted to use them right away. They enjoyed the multi-step function which allowed them to view previous work. Since, I only received 10 calculators, many of them were waiting anxiously for their turn to use them.

Again, I want to tell you how much I appreciate your donation. These students deserve special things. It made them proud to know that someone other than their mother and myself cared about them and their education. Inner city public schools are often forgotten and overlooked. With your help, you showed my students that they haven't been. For that, I will always be grateful to you.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Lubiejewski

My students absolutely love their new tag readers. I have never seen students more excited about reading than they are with these new materials. The books that they get to use are among some of my students' favorites. They are able to take control of their own learning and read at their own pace with the assistance of the Tag system.

It is so great to see students try to read on their own and then use the pen to check their reading. There are fun games they can play to assist with comprehension and the books are just so exciting to them! The characters even read their own parts so the stories literally come to life.

I am so excited for my students to become lifelong, independent readers and these books and materials are really helping them get there. Thank you for your generous donations to my classroom!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Borden