Igivearod 2021: Supporting Rural Alaskan Schools

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Our students had so much fun with these materials and they went a long way in helping students develop a natural love of reading. It is so important for students to choose reading rather than just reading academic texts within the classroom. Thanks to donors choose our whole class came together to read and choose books that they enjoyed.

It is my hope that we have worked together to create a group of students that are now life-long readers. It is proven that students that excel in reading do better in all other subjects. Thank you so much for taking the time to help my students!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Montgomery

Many students have trouble focusing because they are hungry. Thanks to the materials purchased through this project my students were able to enjoy a small snack in the classroom each day. Not only were the students excited to receive snacks, but they were able to focus more in their lessons because of it.

We were so thankful each day to have a variety of snacks to choose from and to have enough for every student. This project provided a snack for students that may not have been able to afford one otherwise. No student should have to worry about hunger in the classroom. Thank you for helping provide these snacks for my students all year long.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Montgomery

We had so much creating tie-dye shirts in the classroom as an art project. Each student was able to choose their own design and color. It was some of the students very first time doing anything tie-dye and it was because of your generous donation that it was possible.

After we washed and dried our shirts, we all wore them to school on the last day of school. Students were able to sign each others shirts and keep them as a keepsake of the fun memories we created in our classroom all year long. Thank you for taking the time to make this happen. I know that my own tie-dye shirt signed be every student is something that I will hold dear to my heart my whole life.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Montgomery

Thanks to your donations each student is able to have their own holder full of flash cards that will help them to be successful in mathematics. They can also reuse these cards for years to come all the way through high school. Other materials we were able to use allowed for our success within the classroom. Graphing paper is something not typically offered through the school but is soooo important in helping students stay organized.

My students used all of the supplies that we were able to order and we had a great year! I have had past students tell me that they used their cards years later and I hope the same is true for this group. Together with the work we have done in class and the materials provided through your donation these students will continue to succeed in Mathematics and be able to complete work independently.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Montgomery

Thank you so much for providing Legos and Lego Robotic educational toys to our school way up here in Allakaket Alaska! The pandemic hit just as we were about to go into full swing of utilizing these into our program and we had to, unfortunately, close our doors to any extra activity for about two years. As this was to be utilized as an after-school program, we were not able to proceed until recently. Finally, this past month (February), we are finally able to open our school doors and begin our programs, although slowly. I am happy to say that we are using our Lego products during Open Gym evenings with our families. Here, the adults and high school students come in and play basketball while the younger students take out our Legos and set up imaginary cities. It's quite a sight to see, parents, small children, older children, and even grandparents building together, something we haven't seen in such a long time.

In short, your gift is bringing our families together to socialize, build, and have fun. Up here in Allakaket, it's been a brutal -50 degrees consistently for the past two months. It is very difficult to go outside for any reason other than to get food or meet the plane, but having our school open and providing Legos is bringing our families together again. Thank you so very much for your gift!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Kaufman

I love to fill my classroom library up with books that I know my students will enjoy reading. For this project, I asked the students which books they wished we had in our library. These were the books they chose. My library is now a favorite place for my students, and the books from this projects are always checked out, brought home and shared. Thank you so much for giving all of these new books to my fifth grade students. They will be loved and read by a lot of kids this year, and for many years to come.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Coulter

When your generous donations arrived to the classroom, my students were eager to learn everything they needed to know to grow their very own plants to take home. We learned about what plants need to survive and all about the plant parts and their functions.

Each student planted several seeds with the purpose of growing a flowering plant to eventually take home. The students were in charge of caring for their plant until it was time to take it home and give it to their moms for Mother's Day.

Thank you so much for the planting supplies. My students were able to experience how rewarding is it to grow a plant from a tiny seed.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Sara

I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for your donations to make this project possible. Our district focus is on reading and literacy skills this school year, due to the lack of days with students in the last year and a half.

Reading can be a struggle for many students. Finding books that they are truly interested in is the key to reading success. My students have been very excited to have the new books and know they access to them within the classroom and throughout the day.

It has been a joy to hear my students laugh and point out specific details within the book, as they read with partners. Many of these students are ones that I have had trouble getting to even pick up books in the past. Seeing them, actually reading, and then being able to discuss the literacy aspects of the books has been amazing!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Gore

I had a group of first graders who were reading every book in my classroom library. I could not keep up with their reading demands. Thankfully, you, the donors from DonorsChoose came to the rescue.

When the books arrive at the school in the Amazon boxes, you would have thought it was Christmas Morning. The students were so excited and we opened them one by one.

The books were quickly distributed. Students chose a book at their level and at their interest to read for pleasure during independent reading time. Some students brought the books home to read.The students who utilized these books saw an increase in their reading fluency which is a big focus in the first grade.

Thank you so much for your donations. Please know that there were students in rural Alaska who really enjoyed these books!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Sara