This week, we're helping to provide Sphero robots for an elementary school class in North Carolina. We’re also continuing to help a Louisiana Title I pre-kindergarten get their first experiences with designing and building simple cardboard creations, using safe and well-designed tools.
We hope that readers who support quality public school education will help these teachers and students by sharing or supporting our featured projects.
The Inoculation Project is an ongoing, volunteer effort to crowdfund science and math projects for red-state public schools in low-income neighborhoods. As always, our conduit is DonorsChoose.org, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that facilitates tax-deductible donations to specific, vetted projects in public schools.
Let’s swoop in and help complete this rural project:
MAIN PROJECT
Resources: My students need STEM materials such as Sphero robots to learn and practice 21st century skills.
Economic need: More than three-quarters of students from low‑income households
Location: Oakwood Elementary School, Yanceyville, North Carolina
Total: $202.45
Still Needed: $102.45 Completed, thank you! Please consider long-term project below.
Teacher’s Comments from Teacher Miles:
My Students: My elementary school serves a close knit, family oriented small rural community. Located in the county seat, "Every child, Every Day" is our motto. The staff is committed to providing our students with everything that they need from personal to educational needs. The diverse backgrounds of our students have molded them to be resilient, hardworking and curious individuals. My students walk through the doors of the school every day ready to learn, ready to perform and ready to show what they know.
My Project: Designed to inspire curiosity, creativity, and invention through connected play and coding, the SPRK+ is far more than just a robot. Powered by the Sphero Edu app, students will learn programming, complete hands-on activities, and share their creations with the school community. These tools will allow my students to be creative, using their imagination to Navigate a maze. Program a painting. Mimic the solar system. Swim across the water. Have a dance party. The possibilities are endless. Opening up a new world of STEM for students who would otherwise never get exposure is what creating projects like this is all about.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
LONG-TERM PROJECT
Resources: My students need the Makedo Cardboard Construction Toolset and other tinkering tools and materials to interact in our classroom's new Makerspace!
Economic need: Nearly all students from low‑income households
Location: Villa Del Rey Elementary School, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Total: $588.96
Still Needed: $272.20 $172.79
Teacher’s Comments from Ms. Breuhl:
My Students: I teach Pre-K at a Title I school in Louisiana, my students are 4 years old and many of them are experiencing school for the first time! I love that my students are so enthusiastic about school and learning new things.
In this classroom we use play as the vehicle for learning.
The students love center time! This is where we do our best learning. We build social and emotional skills, use our brains to think critically, and our hands to create!
Developmentally appropriate Pre-K needs hands-on learning, so we need materials! Many students do not have much experience with true play-based learning, as most children do not play with manipulatives and tinkering toys at home. My students are ready to expand their knowledge with new materials and experiences.
My Project: Our school recently received some AMAZING news! We are becoming a STEM Magnet Elementary Program based in Creative Sciences and Arts in the 2018-2019 school year! I cannot wait to bring these experiences into my Pre-K classroom! I would love to set up a Makerspace based on tinkering, making, and engineering. A Makerspace is meant to encourage thinking processes and actions that scientists and engineers use!
The classroom environment is the third teacher!
If students are to learn how to think like scientists and engineers, their environment needs to stimulate these skills. Many of these students will just be beginning their educational journey, and need to experience the newest methods and materials in a hands-on way!
The Makedo Cardboard Construction Toolset and other tinkering tools and materials will allow the students to interact in our classroom's new Makerspace! These child friendly tools and screws will help students to learn the basics in taking things apart and putting them together in multiple ways. This project also requests many other tools and materials helpful in tinkering and engineering projects. When working on their projects, students can create things with their own hands using planning, problem solving, and evaluating outcomes. The more children practice these skills, the more secure they will feel when applying them during other STEM experiences!
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Founded in 2009, The Inoculation Project combats the anti-science push in conservative America by funding science and math projects in traditionally red-state classrooms and libraries. Our conduit is DonorsChoose.org, 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 two science or math projects in red states, preferably 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 678! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.org.