The Ridger's Giving Page

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Every day - all day at work I manage a classroom full of volatile personalities, demanding academic standards, and students with an array of needs. In the midst of this, it is such a tremendous relief to know that the challenges I face are made that much easier to overcome because we have a plentiful supply of the tools we need to achieve.

You have given me paper, pencils, pens, highlighters, folders, composition books, all of the things we need to have a successful day in the classroom. The importance of this and its fundamental benefit to my teaching success can not be overstated. I am so grateful to you and your generous spirit.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Jackson

Thank you so much for donating bookshelves and tubs to our classroom. Now students are able to visibly see several materials needed in the classroom. When the boxes came the students were so excited to see that we have bookshelves. Their enthusiasm carried over into sorting and organizing the materials to be put onto the shelves.

Through your generosity my students are learning a variety of valuable skills such as sorting, organizing, and appreciating books and school supplies. I wish you knew how happy they were to receive this gift from you.

”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Seaton

It has been a little more than one month since we received the wonderful projector that your generosity made possible. I cannot thank you enough for your generosity and support.

I think what has been most remarkable about the use of this technology is that its presence goes nearly unnoticed. Class simply proceeds smoothly and consistently, allowing learning time to be maximized. The students always know what to expect. Students who are visual and auditory learners are quickly and invisibly engaged by elements as simple as pictures and music to accompany the lessons. I cannot properly put into words the importance of these factors in the classroom.

Finally, the students have fallen in love with To Kill a Mockingbird. Every Friday, they eagerly await their chance to see a few minutes of the movie. They hang on every chapter; they cannot wait to see if Boo Radley will emerge and if Atticus will win his case. Seeing one of my favorite novels come alive for 50 8th graders has been an incredible experience.

Thank you for making that possible.”

With gratitude,

Ms. DeCoursey

Words cannot express how grateful my students and I are for your generous contribution towards "Technology is Everything!". When I first told my students about the project and my goal, they did not seem to be very moved and did not seem to think that complete strangers would want to invest in their educations. The students not only use the USB drives for my class, but for other class' assignments as well. They seem to take pride in their personal USB drives because whenever we have the chance to visit the computer lab and I look around, I see the devices glowing in most of their computers.

We now have fewer issues with student work becoming lost from hard drives; students are now able to work on their assignments at home, in their neighborhood libraries, or at a friend's house because of your donation. Students are so excited about using the USB drives that some of them are now typing minor homework assignments. Thank you for helping them understand the benefit and importance of technology and for encouraging them to work on projects, papers, and other assignments outside of the classroom. ”

With gratitude,

Ms. H.

Thank you so much for your support of this project! The materials arrived promptly and the children have enjoyed using them over the last several weeks. The hand mitt puppets are a big hit. Everyone in my class can spell BINGO now, thanks to the Bingo puppet! The dry erase boards have provided hours of fun letter formation practice for even my struggling writers. The nursery rhyme bingo is lots of fun and more valuable than I could have imagined. Just by playing this game, the students have to listen carefully for details and use picture clues to identify the rhymes; both important reading strategies. The alphabet and picture games are great reinforcing their learning and I, personally, love the table top pocket chart. It's very handy for my small group reading lessons. Plus, we still have the word families and picture/letter/word games to look forward to later in the year! The children are so excited to use these new materials. They are motivated and engaged during literacy centers and are very appreciative of the people who provided them. They were eager to do thank-yous and everyone wanted to be in the pictures! Thank you, not only for your generous donations, but for showing these children that there are people out there who care about them and want them to succeed. Not what we give,

But what we share,

For the gift without the giver

Is bare.

~ James Russell Lowell Thank you all!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Dye

The arrival of the materials has set off a chain reaction. The students remind me almost daily that we are going to need to get the writing done so we can publish the book. I never here a complaint when I say, "get out your writing." They remind me that the teacher they plan to help doesn't know what they are planning to do. They can't wait to see what he thinks of the things they are going to pick out to help him fix up his classroom. They are worried about the spelling, the grammar, the punctuation.

It is because you saw their dream, their vision. You have helped to light the spark that makes a student self-motivated rather than teacher-driven. That is what I want to thank you for. One student commented "All those people have that much trust in us--we really better do a good job!"

It doesn't get any better than that. The words "Thank you" are such humble words with so much feeling behind them.

THANK YOU!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Nolen

I can't even begin to express the depth of my gratitude for your generosity! I know it may sound trivial or cliché-esque, and seem like a little thing, but it is true.

Several of my students are reading well below grade level. I teach second grade and have three students reading on a pre-primer level, so they are not able to read most of the books or stories that go with our curriculum. I have taken the time to read many of the books from my personal classroom library into a tape recorder, so that the students can listen and follow along. This is (obviously) very time consuming and not an effective use of my time. The audio books for the listening center free up my time to gather other activities to improve literacy in my classroom. Besides, they hear enough of my voice all day long (they need a break from me, too).

The books and Cd's will be used in the classroom as well as being available for checkout. Being able to take the Cd's home with them, will allow the below-grade-level students to fulfill the self-selected reading requirement of 20 minutes of reading each night. It will allow them more independence and give them an opportunity to talk with their classmates about books that "everyone" is reading. As the students follow along with fluent reading, their sight word inventory and vocabulary increase as well.

I am so excited about how these listening center sets will improve literacy in my students! They are as excited as I am that someone who doesn't even know them took the time, energy, and resources to donate these books to their class.

Please know that your generosity is greatly appreciated! ”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Hill