Theater and Crafts Make My World Go 'Round

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As the holidays rapidly approach I am taking time to count my blessings. One of the best and most rewarding blessings I am celebrating is the ability to provide my students with our knitting club. Students are making scarves, booties (for their babies, some yet to be born), heart shaped pillows, teddy bears, etc. It is difficult to express the enthusiasm, joy, and creativity they demonstrate as they select projects, and then choose the yarn, needles, etc. with which to complete their creations. Many have progressed beyond the basics to the degree that I have been inspired to take my skills up several notches by trying new styles, stitches, and patterns.

Other schools have heard about our knitting club, and admit that they are a bit envious that they do not have one, which is really cool because sometimes we must admit that no matter how hard we work to provide our students with opportunities, there are some programs we can not offer due to limited funds and staffing.

This opportunity would not be available to our students with out you and your kindness. As you spend time with family and friends, please remember the difference you have made in the lives of our students by providing them with the ability to learn, grow, and graduate from high school.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Wright

To Whom It May Concern:

We are extremely appreciative of the ladder that was generously donated. It has generated some exciting projects within our technical theater class. Students can reach the lights now, and though our resources for production are very low, they can utilize what we do have though the range of the ladder. They are excited to design sets and use our small Black Box space in new and imaginative ways.

"Tools" such as the ladder are very important to the students. They give them a sense of real world possibilities. As soon as we received the ladder, kids whose motivation had been low, exhibited a new enthusiasm and connectedness to each other. They formed production teams and rotated the ladder amongst to drape materials, focus lights, and create their mini productions.

Thank you very much for making our class and space much, much more productive.

Joyce Harris

Drama and Dance Teacher

Fairfax High School ”

With gratitude,

Ms. Harris

Thank you so much for your generous donations to our Knitties Group! The word is spreading and more students are asking to join the fun.

When the first session began some of the students were afraid they were going to make a mistake. Now they laugh at some of their creative stitches and marvel at many of their unique designs. They enjoy the quiet conversation and friendship found at the end of a busy school day. Some of them are planning to teach knitting to family members.

You have made a change in their lives...forever. They will never forget the knitting sessions and I will never forget your amazing kindness.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Benchich

I want to thank you once again for your kind donations toward my donors choose project, "Super Spelling." When my students received and opened our package of spelling manipulatives, they were thrilled!

We've put our new spelling materials to good use. In small groups, we build words using the letter cubes and textured letter "avalanche." In centers, the children use the letter tiles to make word pyramids. They are excited and enthusiastic to work with words!

Again, thanks so much for supporting my first graders!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Marker

First, I want to again express my thanks for your generous donation to my students. I greatly appreciate it and I know my future students will.

Unfortunately, by the time all the materials arrived, my students were in the final phase of their projects and were not able to use the microphones. This did not take away from the excitement of receiving the microphones, however; having this project funded has greatly influenced what I will teach in the coming school year. My students are what Marc Prensky terms, "Digital Natives", and while I am a "Digital Immigrant", it is my job to work to bridge the digital divide between me and them as well as to their peers. The use of technology in the classroom allows my students to be creative not just on paper, but through other means of expression. It also allows them develop critical thinking skills as my students have to plan their projects in detail and/or problem solve any issues they experience. Being able to create multi-media projects in the classroom will bring literature alive.

In the fall I intend to take the book "The Hunger Games" and bring it to life by having my students create a multi-media project. They will be able to use the microphones for narration and interviews, which will make the project appear more professional. No more will the background sounds of the classroom over-power a student's narration. The audience will be able to clearly hear their wonderful voices. The students can also use to microphones to record spoken word, singing, or even rapping. There is no limit to what my students can achieve when they put their minds and creativity to use.

I am very excited about the upcoming school year and can only imagine what my students will create. My students have been very creative with the tools they currently have, imagine what they will achieve when they have all the tools at their reach. ”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Marsh

Thank you all so much for your generous donations to my project. We were extremely excited to get our scene and monologue books! It is so great to know that there are people out there like you who share my enthusiasm for bringing the classic arts to kids!

The books that you have funded will empower our students in their quest for quality education. It will also allow the compartmentalized works from playwrights like Arthur Miller, Shakespeare, and others to be relatable to students who would otherwise struggle with such difficult material. Our scene and monologue books will no doubt facilitate a new way for my students to express themselves that they otherwise wouldn't have!

Once again, thank you all so much. I can't wait to introduce these books to my students for years to come!”

With gratitude,

Mr. West

Thank you so much for your generous donation and support of my Theater students! I can't fully express my joy and excitement when the video cameras finally arrived last week. Up until now, my students have not been able to document their progress in Performing Arts. Since getting the video cameras, my students have each already recorded an original monologue and have watched the footage in order to improve their enunciation. We are all so excited that we will be able to record our class's final production so that we will be able to watch it and give each other constructive feedback.

Your support of the performing arts is deeply appreciated by my students and myself. Thank you!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Madris

Oh my gosh!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you sooo much for your donations!! It has really brought life into reading with my class. Since receiving the literacy centers, the boys come in every morning quietly, anxiously ready to get their hands on the centers and team up in groups. It was very interesting watching them revise the rules of some literacy center/games. Students rotate in centers and learn while enjoying themselves at the same time. The camcorder and laptop....Oh my!! The kids can't get enough of it!! They've been reading in their book clubs and summarizing each chapter on paper just so they are able to type it on the laptop to present to class and role-play their skit for which they read. I even allowed students to take turns operating both devices so that they would become more familiar with the technology. It worked, it really worked!! The high enthusiasm to read more books increased tremendously with the ability of using hands-on material to incorporate with their reading abilities. We truly appreciate your generosity, thanks again :-)”

With gratitude,

Ms. Copeland

My students were so excited when we received their supplies for the stringy fairytale project. They couldn't wait to get started on the project. With the arrival of the supplies, the students were able to complete all stages of the project.

The students thought long and hard about the character they wanted to write a fairy tale about. Many students picked familiar characters to many. While some picked unfamiliar characters. After choosing their character they began writing their fairy tale. Most students produced some of their best writing in these fairy tales. I believe this was the case because they wanted to eagerly get started on their string art (they couldn't get started on their string art until their fairy tale was completed).

As they worked hard on their string art, they noticed that it took more time than expected. But they didn't give up, they pressed toward the end. The students worked together to help each other finish their projects. Once they were finished, they displayed their work in the hallway. Many people stopped and shared compliments about the art. My students faces would just light up as these positive comments came their way.

Thank you so much for donating to this project, it allowed my students to demonstrate their ability to be creative through their writing and bring out their artistic ability through string art.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Taylor