The 2011 Contest: Superpage

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Thank you so much for supporting our project! Our new easel and painting materials have brought my student many learning opportunities. I am happy to inform you that the easel is an essential part of our classroom. We now have an "easel center" that is available to my students every day. During choice time, a part of the day where students explore an area of the classroom that interests them, my students are able to visit the easel center. They have learned to put on their apron, clip newsprint paper to the easel, choose their paint cups and paintbrushes, and begin creating their very own works of art. They also practice writing their name with a marker. When they are done painting, they tell me about their picture and I write in the words for them. Many times, their "masterpieces" are related to something that we have been learning at school, such as shapes or letters. Other times, they are related to something they experienced at home, such as playing with their siblings.It's amazing to see how much my students' social skills have improved this year. Since four children can paint at a time, my students love interacting with each other while they work. The easel has enabled my students with developmental or speech delays to interact with students who are developing at a typical pace. My students are able to learn from each other and grow. Thanks to your generous donation, my students are able to participate in an activity that fosters independence, self-expression and social skills. Thank you for supporting early childhood education!”

With gratitude,

Teacher

Fantastic! Wow!! You're kidding! No Way!! .... are just a few of the responses I received from my fourth grade students when they were told the two, NEW NETBOOKS had been funded by YOU!! It was like Christmas in our room on that happy day!!

Fast forward a few short months, to an eager new group of fourth graders. They squealed with delight when the netbooks arrived. New to Donors Choose, these students couldn't believe that people who "didn't know us" would be so kind and give such useful gifts! I delighted in telling them all about the Generosity Circle. We will be paying it (your kindness) forward, so to speak, by becoming Book Buddies with a second grade class this year. The gift goes on...and on.

The netbooks are fantastic!! You've doubled the available computers in our classroom. Netbooks are easy to use, and the kids love them. Not only do we use them for research, reading rotations, and writing, but we also use them for Accelerated Reading tests. Such versatile technology!!

Please know how much you have done for my students. As their teacher, I am humbled by your gifts and thank you.”

With gratitude,

Teacher

Your donation for our class projector has changed the way our students learn. Since it arrive at the beginning of the year, it has been the focus of how our students with autism learn. At our location, it is often difficult to get to into our community to work on life skills like how to act at work and how to take a bus. The projector allows us to recreate those situations in class for our students to practice so that we can make the most of those trips to our community.

In our academic subjects, using the projector has allowed students to interact with the material in a way we never could with the TV. Students can now walk up to the image (on a white board) and write right on it. We can use magnets to move things around on the board. This level of interaction has truly resonated with our students.

Using videos to show processes that have multiple steps have been much more effective with the projector. We are able to make video recipes for our students and now they can cook many things independently.

Finally, your donation to our projector has allowed our students to engage the general education students in our school and become more social. We have used the projector for movies at lunch time and students of all abilities and backgrounds come and relax and relate to each other.

Again, thank you so much, your donation has changed the lives of our students.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Gillette

My class has been a month into this project, and we are loving it! The hands-on materials have allowed my students to do so much more, and the knowledge they are gaining is two-fold! Coincidentally, my students are learning about rocks and minerals in science, which is the perfect partner to learning about the California Gold Rush. One great goal that my students have been able to fulfill is being able to identify methods for gold prospecting, and one drawback is that they are trying to do so all over our city! They have learned that the gold from the Gold Rush came from the mountains, and they are so excited to create their own Gold Rush, I am hearing reports from parents that some of my students want to go to the mountains every weekend to practice what they learned on the stream tables. The knowledge they are gleaning in addition to prospecting skills is that of the impact of erosion--how the Gold Rush prospecting had adverse effects to our environment. This was an exciting bit of learning that just grew into a great learning moment!

Finally, I am excited to report that this project influenced a great love for learning about history AND science--students are checking out books from the library, researching on the Internet, and using what they have learned from this project for their science fair project! Thanks so much for this opportunity, Chevron!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. R.

I would like to thank each of you again for helping to fund this project. My ESOL students have LOVED taking the iPod and books home. They have been so prompt at returning the materials on the due date and have taken great care of them also!

I am still learning how to upload the book's audio CD to the iPod. My learning curve and my students' desire to take the books and iPod home are not at the same speed! I am getting faster at remembering how to upload the CDs because my students keep begging to take the backpack home. I also recently received a MacBook and I'm hoping that uploading the CDs will be easier using an Apple product!

I love that my students can take these materials home to hear English. I also love that their families are able to benefit from these materials.

Thank you again for being so generous and helping to provide materials for my students.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Martel

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Thank you for you generosity in finishing the Hawk Pride Studio! The speakers have allowed my students to listen to several performaces and get a better understanding of what we are trying to achieve within our own program. We have also used it for videos for our leadership team to prepare them for the future of our program.

Our program here continues to get budget cuts that affect our program tremendously. We have grown 25% since last year and we are only going to get bigger and better.

Again, thank you for your support in the arts and in our program.

HAWK PRIDE!”

With gratitude,

Mr. McLain

Thank you all so much for your generous donations! We use this projector EVERY SINGLE DAY! It really helps those visual learners who struggle with verbal directions! It is so helpful to those who seem to be always "plugged in" when not in the classroom! (We work on listening skills too)

At a time when all schools are financially challenged (especially those in the U.P. of Michigan), your donations are essential in making sure our students have the tools they need to be successful in this technological world!

Thank you again for your generous donations!

Mrs. C”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Leger Close

Thank you so much for your generous donations to this project! My students have been learning a great deal about our local water sources and how they can make a positive impact. The great thing about these supplies is that not only do they help us test and research water qualities, but many of the items are universal in their purpose and have been able to be used in a wide variety of other water-related topics including biology, density and volume, and geology.

My students' love for science has only increased since we received these materials. They can't wait to come to class and see what they will get to explore that day. I have been able to use these materials with students in grades K-5 in my gifted and talented program - far beyond where I had initially thought they would reach! And with teaching at two schools in my district, that is a huge number of students that are benefiting from using these tools!

Without donors like you projects like this would not be possible! My students and I thank you more than what words can express. You have helped create a love and excitement for science in my students, and that's priceless! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Jambura