I am starting the first year of an art program at an innovative project-based public school called Tech valley High School, in the Capitol region of New York. I teach studio art to a diverse set of 9th and 10th Graders, most of whom come from low-income families.
One of our primary missions is to engage students in current emerging technologies, and to generally have kids use their computers as a tool to obtain rigorous, relevant 21st century skills. We hope to support the growth and economy of the region by graduating kids who are highly literate, critical thinkers with a strong capacity to use technology.
We have been fortunate enough to receive funding for a large number of laptops for our students. Many kids are already fairly tech savvy and come up to me each day in art class, showing me stunningly beautiful photos they have taken, as well as projects that they have created using photoshop, illustrator, and other programs. The trouble is, we have no way to display them because our school does not have a large format printer! This is currently a serious bottle neck for us, and I know if supplied with a good printer, our digital art program will start to bud and bloom in the form of presentations, posters, and art shows for a variety of Media.
I have selected a large format Printer that can produce gallery quality photographs up to 13 x 19 inches. this will be the perfect size for displaying 40 students' artwork at a time for display at our school. It will enable all kinds of graphic design projects, and will also be available for all our teachers, including science and social studies, to use in creating final products for our wonderful new school.
In my opinion, this printer is currently our highest need in a school with a positive and enthusiastic teaching culture, a whole slew of innovative digital projects ready to go, but no way of taking the final step to display the products. I also know from watching my students that they will love to see their work displayed- it engages them and gets them talking and critiquing their work, often on their own without a teacher present. I know this printer will be used very frequently by our students, and I look forward to taking photos of our kids engaging their artwork and each other, thanks to our donors!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Coolidge and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.