Welcome to The Inoculation Project! This week, we’ll help a New Jersey elementary school class take a field trip to a nearby science museum aimed at children. As always, our conduit is DonorsChoose.org, an organization founded in 2000 and highly rated by both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau. If you’re short on cash, don’t worry — we’re glad to see you anyway! And your tips, recs, shares, and so on are a good free way to help, by helping us get on the rec list and catch more eyes. Join us below for all the fun!
New Jersey is not in our usual territory; despite the famous awfulness of its current governor, it doesn’t typically go red in presidential elections. But since the awful governor has done everything he can to wreck public education here (and he’s done a fair job at it when he’s not busy closing bridge lanes), I can assure you that kids in inner-city Newark suffer school conditions that are pretty dire. Museums like Liberty Science Center are so close to them, but many families just can’t get their kids there. Maybe we can help.
NEW LONG-TERM PROJECT
Resources: My students need the admission fees covered so they can go on a field trip to the Liberty Science Center to explore their love of science.
School Poverty Level: Highest
Location: Rafael Hernandez Elementary School, Newark, New Jersey
Total: $859.24
Still Needed: $719.24 $569.24
Expires: Jan 31, 2017
Teacher’s Comments from Mr. Ryan:
My Students: This project will benefit the third-grade students in Newark, New Jersey. Every day, the teachers at our school are inspired by our students' curiosity and passion for learning. Despite the challenges that face the school, community, and its students and faculty, we discover new ways of making learning a fun and rewarding experience.
As a school in northern New Jersey, we are within miles of various world-class museums and science exhibitions; however, in so many cases, our students never have the opportunity to experience these places for themselves.
As our students continue to learn and grow, we want to be sure that we are giving them the rewarding life experiences they deserve, but might not have access to otherwise.
My Project: Science has sparked the imagination of many of the students at our school. They love the opportunity to learn in a hands-on way that allows them to explore their curiosities about the world around them. However, classroom size and a lack of resources often limits what we are able to do with our students.
As a school in a low income area, our students usually don't have a chance to explore places like the Liberty Science Center with their families.
Oftentimes, it's up to the school to provide our students with the experiences that students at other schools take for granted.
This project will cover the admission fee for a field trip to the Liberty Science Center. This trip will provide a fun and rewarding learning experience that our students will remember for a long time to come.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
So that we can help both small and large projects, we usually present a relatively modest project each week, then feature a more ambitious project with a long-term deadline. We can chip away at the long-term project, and our activity can also help push that project up DonorsChoose’s equivalent of our “rec list”, so it is shown to more donors outside Daily Kos. In that way, we can help finish projects that may be beyond our means when only our own dollars are considered. This week, we've just completed a large, long-term project, so we're starting our next one as our main project.
We helped complete our main AND long-term projects last week (for a series total of 532!)
In Greensboro, North Carolina, Mrs. Graham’s elementary school classes will be raising butterfly larvae and watching them metamorphose, thanks to last week’s main project, Butterflies, Butterflies, Butterflies YEAR 3. She writes, This project is a favorite each year for our students. It makes coming to school more enjoyable. We are totally dependent on generous donors to support our educational goals. It takes a community secure the future of our country. Thank you again for your generosity.
The Pre-AP Physical Science students in Fayetteville, Arkansas’s junior high school are about to learn more about the laws of motion by launching eggs using model rockets, as part of Mr. Mason’s project, Physics Rocket Lab.
Our Dollars at Work
Mrs. Bissett’s Arkansas elementary students are using their new microscope with some lab kits that allow them to solve CSI-style mysteries about water pollution, learning more about deductive reasoning as well as the environment. The project was Solving the Mystery of the Contaminated Creek. (More photos at the link.)
...Students love using [the microscope]. They are learning about the different parts of a microscope, and how to properly use it, handle it, and store it. They find it fascinating that you can hook the microscope up to the computer and see the slide on the SmartTV. They ask me everyday if we can use it.
The learning has not stopped there. The Case of the Contaminated Creek was so much fun to teach and students have learned so much. Next year 3rd grade will take on the case and will be introduced to microscopes and environmental science. The impact of this project will go on for many years and reach many students. You are helping create genuine learning experiences for kids who truly need it. I am so thankful for you all and DonorsChoose.org for making this project happen.
Founded in 2009, The Inoculation Project is an effort to combat the anti-science push in conservative America by providing direct funding to science and math projects in traditionally red-state classrooms and libraries. Our conduit is DonorsChoose.org, an organization founded in 2000 and highly rated by both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau. DonorsChoose allows you to contribute to specific, vetted projects in public schools, resulting in tremendous and immediate impacts from small-dollar donations. Here’s an introductory video about DonorsChoose featuring Michelle Obama and Stephen Colbert. Each Sunday morning, we focus on helping to fund one or two science and math projects in traditionally red-state schools, preferably in highest-poverty districts. We welcome everyone who shares our interest — no money is required! Your tip, rec, republish, comment, or share helps bring us more eyes, and besides, we like the company of others who love kids and education. Feel free to post a link or video, or just tell us how your weather is!
See our list of successfully funded projects. The success-list diary now also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose, formerly found in this space.