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Your donation has helped my students tremendously. They were able to read books about oil coal and natural gas. Because of this experience, they have a stronger understanding of these non-renewable resources and how they are an intricate part of our world. They also understand how our future will include renewable and inexhaustible energy.

Your donation also allowed the purchase of a "Rock Detective" kit. It included 100 samples the students could hold on to, examine and make predictions about. These samples included rocks from all over the United States. This helped my students make real life connections. They examined things like wood versus petrified wood and even a trilobite fossil. This kit is amazing and a wonderful way for students to increase their interest in Earth Science. Their enthusiasm while investigating the samples was energizing. Thank you so very much for your donation to our classroom and my student's education. ”

With gratitude,

Ms. Raiten

The camp trip has come and gone already and I am proud to report that it was another huge success! We packed in a total of 12 hours of Calculus and tons of team builders and crazy games all within two and a half days. Despite the fact the this year's class was twice as big as last year's, I was impressed at the endurance they all had to study for so many consecutive hours and the bonding they did over the silly games.

For most of them, this was their first camping trip away from the city so they really got to enjoy the great outdoors, from the hikes to the observatory to the snow that had fallen the first night! They also had no cell phone reception and a few reported to me how nice that turned out to be. Camp is still all that they talk about even after a week has passed!

Although they will not receive their scores until this summer, it does sound promising in what they reported after having taken the exam yesterday morning. None of this could have been done without each of your help, so again, thank you so much for your faith and contribution to this year's camp! Here's to hoping for the best!!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Hwang

I still cannot thank you enough for your kindness in donating to our book club. My kids were ecstatic to hear the news that we would be getting three book sets to read together as a class.

We started off by voting for which book we would start with first. This secretive vote is one of my favorite memories of the school year. Each student had the three books on their desk and carefully analyzed them. They were flipping through pages or reading the back covers in anticipation. After collecting and dramatically reading the ballots, we chose Tuck Everlasting as our first book.

We save the last fifteen minutes of every day and for book club. Parents are invited to join us as we read together and experience this book as a classroom family. My kids encourage each others reading and I hear them discussing our stories at lunch and recess. By partner reading they have helped improve each others fluency and inspired friendly competitions about who can read the most books. They collect links on their chains by independently reading books and completing a book reviews.

Edgar's book chain reached the floor today and I had to get on a ladder to attach it to the ceiling so he can keep adding links. His benchmark test scores have risen over thirty points since book club and this will be his first year state testing in English. His vocabulary has improved remarkably and he always calls me over to point out the vocabulary words of our recent novels. He has showed them that barely passing a grade is not an option; you must go above and beyond to reach your goals.

Juan is another example of a student who has become hooked on books. He has enjoyed book club so much that he brings his book home to reread the pages we covered to his younger brother. He says his brother needs to hear "good reading" so that he can become a better reader. When Juan leaves tutorials and waits for his ride he cracks open a book. Other kids could be playing tag, chatting or talking about the latest PlayStation cheat codes and Juan is reading quietly in the midst of everything. He is confident he will make his reading goals. The book club pushed him to a new level.

Thank you again for making all this possible for my students. With your help we will reach our reading goals!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Alberts

Of course, first of all, thanks to everyone for giving generously of yourselves to my classroom. My students just couldn't believe that people that don't even know them would give money to help out!

When I first unpacked the box to show students the netbooks there was an immediate"Ohh, coool! Those laptops are tight!" Followed by, "Can I use it?" I have had to come up with some unique strategies to make sure everyone has equal time to use them. I have a couple of desktop computers in my room and sometimes limited computer lab time, so with the addition of these computers we can now do station computer activities in class! We used the netbooks for vocabulary and we also have done a webquest on body systems. They get so excited when I call out names for who gets to use the computers.

I am excited that I will get to use these netbooks with my students for years to come. As our society becomes more heavily tech-integrated, we have to teach kids how to use that technology for their benefit. Just in the few small projects I have had students do, I can tell we have a ways to go. Basic things like word processing skills for some, others need help with searching the web efficiently. I cannot wait to reinforce all of these skills and use computer technology regularly in my classroom!

Thanks again for giving to my classroom. All teachers need help and I sincerely thank you for helping me!!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Shannon

Words cannot express the impact your donation has had on my students. They were so excited to learn that they would be receiving school supplies. Not only were they receiving school supplies, but these supplies would last for the entire school year!

Since this project was funded and the materials received, we have received several new students - many of whom have recently moved out of a homeless shelter. At first, they didn't have much in terms of school supplies. Thanks to your support, I was able to provide them with pencils, pens, notebooks, paper and folders. It meant so much to them and me that they were able to feel like the rest of their classmates.

Thank you once again for your generosity and support of my students.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Simmons

The books have been AWESOME! We are using these books for ESL, but also for lover level reading instruction groups. My lowest level ESL class enjoys them the most. We are identifying compound words, breaking words down into phonemes, locating short and long vowels used, and overall enjoying the fun-filled stories. Most importantly, students feel successful now that they have level-appropriate books to read. We are really enjoying the stories on tape too. It's nice to hear someone else read to you, especially with colorful music in the background. This experience has been truly wonderful and we appreciate all the kind donations that made this possible. Thank you all so much!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Poit