Legg Mason's Giving Page

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I would like to thank you on the behalf of my science class. When I told my students that we would be reading a book in science I heard lots of complaints. However, after a few days of reading I had students asking me to take the book home. When I sent the book home students started to read ahead of the assigned chapters. Even a few of the complainers admitted to enjoying the book.

Thank you again for allowing my students to enjoy reading, have a conversation starter, relate the importance of science to their life and inspiring them to learn. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" did those things and more.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Hope

Thank you for your donation to our classroom. The puzzles are used everyday and the students love copying the feelings on the puzzles. We use the puzzles to start lessons on why we feel the way we do and how to handle those feelings. It is important for students to realize feelings come and go but we can learn to control our responses to our feelings.

We read the books to help us learn and accept people from different cultures and places. It is not often my students meet people from different cultures. These books help them understand that people are different.

These resources help me prepare my students for life ahead. Thank you so much for helping me help them.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Carney

On behalf of the student body and staff, I would like to thank you for helping us secure a projector for our music room. With limited funding for the arts and our recent budget cuts, it is a blessing to be able to count on individuals, like you, to ensure that our students receive the materials they need. Your generous gift will launch our classroom into the 21st century (albeit, a little late) so that we can explore the sounds and sights of music!

This projector will allow us to experience music visually and learn from the some of the greatest musicians in history. We have already used the projector to look at music scores up-close, experience choral performances from all over the world, and discover the work of the "Recycled Orchestra" of Paraguay. As our year progresses, we will experience "Beatlemania" first hand through film of the Beatles' Shea Stadium concert, understand the beauty of Maria Callas' singing by watching her perform in 1950's Paris, and watch as Arturo Toscanini conducts Beethoven's 9th in 1948. We will able to virtually tour the great musical cities of Europe and explore the concert halls of the world. You have allowed us to see the great musical masters in action and get a closer look at some of the world's most musically significant sites.

Thank you again for contributing to our budding music program. Your kindness will not be forgotten. I hope that you will continue to support Donors Choose so that other schools, including ours, may continue to benefit from your generosity.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Phadke

Thank you for understanding that Staying Healthy is Part of Academic Success! My students and coworkers have noticed, and commented on, the abundance of tissues and hand sanitizer available to students at all times. Students love having Clorox germicidal wipes to clean their desks and chairs during this cold and flu season. When we had a girl in my class come down with pink eye, we sanitized the whole room with wipes, Lysol spray, and hand sanitizer and no one else got infected.

Having Band-Aids and alcohol prep pads in the classroom allows me to treat minor scrapes so students don't lose class time by going to to school nurse. Also, thank you for allowing us to have something as simple as an air freshener, which adds so much to the subconscious reaction that students have to our classroom.

We appreciate your generosity to fund an issue that is typically overlooked!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Melissa

Thank you so much for helping my students start the year off right and stay organized! Students loved coming to school on the first day to find their own binder, full of school supplies and already loaded with a calendar, maps, and assignments for the whole year! Ok... they didn't love the pre-loaded assignments, but it was still something they had never experienced. They appreciated all the time, thought, and money that went into their binders, and want to thank you.

Students have been able to keep track of their assignments and feel very professional. It is a ritual to get their binders out of the cabinet, even if we are not using anything from them that day. Occasionally a student will forget to put their binder back in their cabinet and other students will chastise them for it by saying, "Who has Binder 3? You left it out!"

I have students who don't often have all the school supplies that they need, and are rarely given tools for success. Thank you for helping me provide these basic supplies that my students need to help them focus on schoolwork and not where they left their assignment, or how to find a pencil to write with.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Melissa

Thank you so much for the laptop and printer. Words can’t express how much the students and I appreciate your donation. Your generous donation has already been put to good use. As a speech pathologist working with inner city students, I often have work with students beyond their speech and language skills. At this time when almost every household has a household computer, the majority of my students do not. This donation is helping all of my students in more ways than one.

First of all, some students have been using the computer to research background information for their historical fiction writing assignment. This has allowed them to develop believable settings and characters for their writing as well as increasing their online researching skills. Students have to complete research programs and often are expected to research at home. However, my students are not able to do this. The laptop gives them the time to research their projects and allows them to ask questions. Often children with speech and language delays have difficulty understanding unfamiliar vocabulary. When they are researching during the speech session, they are able to ask for help and when they come across new vocabulary.

Second of all, the younger students have been able to take advantage of various computer programs to work on their phonemic skills. Phonemic awareness skills are essential for pre-literacy development. Many of our students struggle with reading due to lack of exposure. Children are expected to be reading at earlier ages. Therefore, they need exposure to these fun, motivational computer programs to help them meet the reading expectations set before them. Also, these programs allow for targeted individualized instruction as well as allowing more opportunities for students to strengthen computer skills.

Another incredibly useful benefit of having a laptop for students is giving them a chance to become more independent with solving problems. For example, a student who was struggling to solve a math problem watched a brief video tutorial online in order to help find a solution. It allows the students to become more independent and to help them find solutions with greater independence.

While the laptop has been an amazing resource, the addition of the printer has been the icing on the cake! Students have already been using the printer to print out research for their social studies project. Since students were required to utilize 3 different types of sources, it was essential to be able print out the information they found. Also, our school is a kindergarten through eighth grade school. We only have one computer lab and often there are classes in the room. The printer allows the students to print their work on a more flexible schedule and to take pride in their work. This is so significant for our students who are often embarrassed to admit that they do not have access to a printer and/or computer.

Once again, thank you so much for the generous donations. My students and I are so excited to have a speech laptop and use of a printer.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Foote

Thank you so much for your generous donation. My students and I greatly appreciate all that you have done for us. First of all, the laptop is great. It is so nice to have the students work on it. The kindergarten, first, second, and third grade students are often not exposed to computers at such an early age. It is wonderful for them to have the opportunity to use the computer for educational purposes. Mostly, they use the computer for phonemic awareness and early literacy activities. Reading readiness is a big issue today. So many students are having difficulty learning to read, and hopefully exposing them to a computer will motivate them to work on their early literacy skills.

The Word Family activity also is an excellent activity for the students because it provides multiple opportunities for them to learn new vocabulary. After learning the word ending for that session (e.g., - ake, as in make, take, and bake), the students learn the new vocabulary and then speed read the words in the word family flip book. It is fun for them and exciting to master a word family during each session. This activity also has helped me with planning because many different word flip books were provided, allowing me to have new material easily accessible during the session. Having more time throughout the school day is so important and this activity has given me more time to work my students!

Lastly, the Multiple Meanings activity is great for the middle school students I work with. Often students struggle with reading because vocabulary gets more challenging and children with speech delays have a hard time identifying the definitions of the unfamiliar words. Homonyms, or words with two definitions, are very hard for my students. This activity allows my students to be exposed to the multiple meanings words with visual cues (e.g., pictures) and written definitions. Speech students often rely on learning new things through more than one modality (e.g., visual and written cues). This activity gives them more opportunities to learn new vocabulary.

Thank you again for providing the funds for my project to be completed. The items will all be put to good use and will help so many young minds! Thank you again.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Giannetta

Thank you once again for your generous donations to our project. Our classroom library is now packed with age appropriate, leveled books! My students are thoroughly enjoying picking a "just right" book to read and your donations have made this happen. The students are feeling really successful during independent reading and guided reading time. They are reading more than ever before. The great new books in our library are helping to create a culture of reading.

Thank you so much for helping spread the love of books!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Obrebska