Welcome to The Inoculation Project, a weekly effort to help fund science and math projects in schools categorized as “highest poverty.” This week, we’re helping students at multiple grade levels and with some matching offer assistance.
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.
HIGH-SCHOOL PROJECT
Resources: My students need HEXBUG VEX IQ Robotics Construction Set to learn to build and program robots.
School Poverty Level: Highest
Location: Nogales High School, Nogales, Arizona
Total: $414.95 (matching offer!)
Still Needed: $414.95 Completed! See everyone next Sunday.
Expires: May 24, 2017
Teacher’s Comments from Mr. Mehta:
My Students: "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
I teach a group of creative thinkers, eager learners, and enthusiastic students.
In my robotics club, students have shown great aptitude in design thinking and STEM. Even though 90% of students come from a low-income background, they are always ready to learn and create and in this process inspire each other and everyone around them. Due to lack of resources, they are unable to realize their latent potential.
My Project: I plan to use the HEXBUG VEX IQ Robotics Construction Set in my after-school Robotics Club. The club is open to all students of the school and currently has 50 members.
The HEXBUG VEX IQ Robotics Construction Set is an excellent robotics kit which teaches not only building a robot from scratch but also how to program it.
In this age of technology, it is very important to expose the young minds to computer programming skills and with the help of this kit, I will be able to help my student unleash their creative potential and learn to code.
With this project, students will learn to create different types of robots and will program them to do various tasks. It will be fun to teach to code and build robots. This kit will help them think creatively and inspire them to be innovative.
I am a strong proponent of cooperative learning and believe that students develop very important 21st-century skills when they work in teams. My students work in groups and help each other learn the concepts. Moreover, the old batch of students assume the leadership position and teach the incoming group, thereby, sharpening their skills.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROJECT
Resources: My students need crayons, scissors, geometry software, and geometric solid pieces to successfully understand geometry in an engaging way!
School Poverty Level: Highest
Location: Sequoyah Middle School, Doraville, Georgia
Total: $183.95
Still Needed: $183.95 Completed! But teacher cancelled project.
Expires: May 4, 2017
Teacher’s Comments from Mr. Clark, who cancelled his project:
My Students: My 7th grade mathematics support classroom is a room of inquiry, discussion, and quality instruction. Students spend their time thoughtfully on addressing common misconceptions that will surface in their core mathematics class, and my goal is present key information differently that is engaging and can be applied in a real-world context.
As an educator at a Title I school, I service a high population of unique English Language Learners that require additional supports.
My students love to be immersed in real-word math and technology.
My Project: These materials will make a difference in my students' learning and improve their school lives by allowing students the opportunity to learn geometry, a difficult topic, with a hands-on approach. When students discover learning for themselves compared to traditional lectures with worksheet practice, they grasp onto the material better and can understand the topic more abstractly and concretely.
My classroom is short of supplies and my school's budget does not allow for teachers to be stocked with materials we use daily such as scissors and crayons, which is used daily for our interactive notebook.
In addition, with the Geometer's Sketchpad and the geometric solids, I can create engaging lessons and stations for my students, and take learning to the next level. Thank you for your support, as my students will really appreciate it!
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROJECT
Resources: My students need these programmable robots to finish their units on coding and robots.
School Poverty Level: Highest
Location: Carter Park Elementary School, Fort Worth, Texas
Total: $309.93 (matching offer!)
Still Needed: $309.93 Completed! Thank you.
Expires: June 22, 2017
Teacher’s Comments from Teacher Adams:
My Students: My students are identified as Gifted and Talented or high performing. The majority of the students speak two languages, with English being their second language. They are amazing!
Money is tight in most of my students' families, so access to technology is often very limited.
This is why I joined DonorsChoose.org. I want them to have the same opportunities as other students, but simply cannot afford to buy for all of my 300+ students. They deserve the very best!
My Project: The older students have learned about coding through Code.org. They are ready for the next step, to see coding in action. These programmable robots would be the perfect answer!
The first graders are completing a unit on robots.
They are learning about different kinds of robots. Having access to Dot and Dash, so they could see actual robots moving and talking would be such an awesome experience for them. They could learn how to program the robots.
For most of my students, this would be technology that they have never seen or used before. Many of them don't even have internet access at home. It would broaden their learning, and excite them for the future!
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
We were quite busy last week funding a variety of projects! Our main project from last week was completed with the help of a generous donor matching our donations. For the project Butterflies, Crystals, and Compost, Oh My!, elementary school students in Idaho will receive crystal kits, a butterfly garden, and compost materials to conduct science experiments.
Thank you note from Mrs. Wieland:
I honestly can't even believe your kindness! I was shocked to see that Butterflies, Crystals, and Compost, Oh My! had not just posted, but had funded! I am so excited to start these science projects, and is it strange that I am most excited about composting?
We have a flower garden in the front of our school that for years no one did anything with and by the time I had started teaching it was so overgrown with weeds and neglected plants that were no longer thriving, it took us a while to get it all cleaned out. In this garden I have taken the opportunity teach my students how to weed and clean out and prepare it for seeds, where they then plant seeds. We get to watch as those seeds begin to grow and before school gets out those seeds start to flower and fill in our small space.
I am so excited for us to learn about how some of our everyday garbage can turn into a nutrient rich soil for our garden. I am so excited for them to watch the cycle of a butterfly from start to finish and then get to release our butterflies into our garden, not that they will remain, but they will enjoy looking for them. I am excited for them to get to grow crystals and to create something beautiful out of common house hold things.
Thank you for keeping my students wonder alive as we experiment together. Also thank you for making them feel important and valued by helping fund this project even though you don't know them.
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wieland
Our long-term project — Family Cafe Nights To Support Student Learning Through Games/Books — was also completed with the assistance of a different matching offer. Middle school students in Georgia will receive math/science books and games to use while learning at home.
Thank you note from Mrs. Brunner:
I am excited to see this project come to life. Thank you to the many generous supporters, those that gave and those that shared this project. This project fills a need for my students and their families at my school. I will be thinking of you as we host our first cafe night.
With gratitude,
Mrs. Brunner
Finally, we took on an urgent project — Engaged Learning With Living Animals, Habitats, Books and Games — and helped to complete that one as well! Students in South Carolina will receive an aquarium kit, lizard and frog habitats, and more to study live animals and their habitats in order to learn about the environment.
Here’s the teacher’s thank you note:
I am shocked and Jumping for joy because this project has been fully funded! Thank you donors so very much. I am filled with gratitude at the amount of support that my students are receiving! I just cannot believe that they will be getting such wonderful materials that will enrich their lives in so many ways. Words just cannot say how thankful I am.
With gratitude,
Mrs. Burns
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!
Finally, here’s our list of successfully funded projects — our series total is 554! The success-list diary now also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose, formerly found in this space.