This week, we’re helping a Mississippi kindergarten to get some tools to help them read, and an Alaska high school to get a great assortment of science lab kits. We hope that readers who support quality public school education will help by sharing or supporting our featured projects.
The Inoculation Project is an ongoing, volunteer effort to crowdfund science, math, and literacy projects for public schools in low-income neighborhoods. As always, our conduit is DonorsChoose, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that facilitates tax-deductible donations to specific, vetted projects in public schools.
This is definitely the only week we’ll work on this new project, because it will expire before next week if it doesn’t get funded. However, I think we have a good chance to make enough of a stir over it to get it completed. Let’s give it a try — they’ll return our donations to be re-used if it doesn’t make it, but on the other hand, maybe some kindergarteners in Natchez will get some help learning to read!
PROJECT #1
Resources: Help me give my students alphabet teaching tubs to explore letters and letter sounds.
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: McLaurin Elementary School, Natchez, Mississippi
Total: $289.31
Still Needed: $289.31 $70.48
Project description by Mrs. Vines: My students love to learn new letters and sounds by using hands-on manipulatives. These letter tubs will be an absolute game changer for our students! My kindergarten students will be so excited to learn new letters with these alphabet sound tubs. Each tub has hands on objects that start with the corresponding letter sound. Students can take turns learning the letter sound and matching the objects!
These tubs can be used in teacher led small group, students led centers, and whole group during our phonics lesson.
I can't wait to use these letter tubs daily and share the joy of phonics with my young learners.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
These fun letter tubs are among the teaching tools described in this video from the company that makes them.
Our new second project is quite ambitious, but its deadline is still more than two months away and we already put a good dent in it last week. I think you’ll agree it’s right up our alley.
Ms. Boone teaches high-school grades in a small fishing village with a population that’s heavily Alaskan Native. She needs a large assortment of hands-on lab materials for all the science topics she needs to cover.
PROJECT #2
Resources: Help me give my students more materials for exploratory labs in science class!
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: Newhalen School, Iliamna, Alaska
Total: $1,199.74
Still Needed: $742.68 $623.86
Project description by Ms. Boone: These materials meet the standards of the multiple levels of science that I teach, including general science, physical science, and earth science. They will help students by giving them opportunities to participate in hands on, exploratory labs.
With your donation, these materials can provide students in rural Alaska with more place-based and exploratory labs, giving them opportunities that they might not otherwise get in an remote area of Alaska.
Please consider helping my class gain more resources for hands on activities. We can't thank you enough for your support and consideration in donating.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
One of the requested items is an “Evidence of the Big Bang Kit”. Here, Professor Dave Farina explains the evidence for that theory. (His earlier video explaining the Big Bang in more detail is here. Professor Dave boasts a considerable astrophysics playlist, but has yet to address the recent JWST-based findings that we may have been underestimating the age of the universe.)
Our main project from last week was completed, with lots of help from our readers!
Project #1, Lions, Tigers, Inventors...Oh My: Mrs. Miller wanted her North Carolina elementary-school library to have some good non-fiction books about inventors.
She writes: Thank you for believing in my students. These books will help them believe in themselves. They will help them dream of the future and all of the possibilities that they can hope for. These books will open up STEM fields for my students who don't always have access to these materials.
DonorsChoose has developed the designation Equity Focus Schools to describe some schools that submit projects. They meet two criteria: at least 50% of students are Black, Latinx, Native American, Pacific Islander, or multiracial, and at least 50% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, the standard measure for school economic need. You can read more at the link about their efforts to address the longstanding inequity in education. |
Founded in 2009, The Inoculation Project seeks to fund science, math, and literacy projects in public school classrooms and libraries. Our conduit is DonorsChoose, a crowdfunding charity founded in 2000 and highly rated by both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau.
Every Sunday, we focus on helping to fund projects in neighborhood public schools where the overwhelming majority of students come from low-income households. We welcome everyone who supports public school education — no money is required!
Finally, here’s our list of successfully funded projects — our series total is 1086! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.