This week, we’re helping a New Jersey pre-kindergarten class start a garden, and a Texas middle school summer enrichment program get what they need to step outside of studying for standardized tests, for once. 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.
I keep being surprised that we keep needing two new projects, but it is a very happy surprise!
We don’t generally focus on New Jersey, but I am here to assure you that Camden needs help just as much as anywhere else we feature here. Mrs. Flores teaches autistic children in pre-K, and she thinks they and the other students in the school would benefit from gardening. We have 2x matching funds from Newman’s Own Foundation: The Foundation works to nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity.
PROJECT #1
Resources: Help me give my students a hydroponic growing system, vegetable and herb seeds, grow sponges, and potting soil to allow for hands-on learning.
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: Early Childhood Development Center, Camden, New Jersey
Total: $355.60 (2x matching funds from Newman’s Own Foundation)
Still Needed: $355.60 Completed, thank you! Please consider Project #2 below.
Project description by Mrs. Flores: Having a garden in preschool offers a wide range of benefits for both children and educators. I am working with my fellow educators to build a community garden in our school courtyard for students and families to enjoy. We are asking for materials to get us started. We would like a few hydroponic planters, some seeds, soil, and pots.
My students with autism thrive when provided with tangible, hands-on learning environments, and having this garden will allow my students the opportunity to explore concepts such at plant life cycles, nutrition, and environmental science in a real-world context.
Gardens help children understand that growing their own food promotes healthy eating habits. When children participate in growing and harvesting their own food, they are more likely to try new foods and develop a preference for healthy foods. Gardening involves physical activity such as digging, planting, watering, and weeding which promotes both gross and fine motor skill development. It also teaches children responsibility and the importance of caring for living things. Students will learn to water plants and observe the plant life cycle. Gardening can also be a calming and therapeutic activity by helping children develop patience, empathy, and a sense of achievement. Our PreK curriculum has Gardening, Water, and Tree which will help enhance learning in science, math, and the arts.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Since one of the item requested is mixed wildflower seeds, here’s a 5-minute time lapse of a bed of wildflowers being grown from seed.
This never-before-funded middle school teacher in a Texas border city can only offer her students science enrichment if they come back for “science camp” in the summer. They are happy to do that, so let’s see if we can get them what they need!
We have 2x matching funds from Bezos Family Foundation: We’re helping more young people realize their potential by championing the science of learning and its application in everyday life. Please join us in giving back to help ensure that students and the educators who support them have what they need this year to learn, grow, and thrive.
PROJECT #2
Resources: Help me give my students a better experience during summer enrichment camp this year!
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: Jaime Escalante Middle School, Pharr, Texas
Total: $796.84 (2x matching funds from Bezos Family Foundation)
Still Needed: $796.84 $518.01 ($259 from us)
Project description by Mrs. Navarro: The purpose of enrichment camp is to give the students the opportunity to do more hands on learning activities that time was not allotted for during the school year. It's difficult to make time for all the fun enriching activities that I want to do when we have state tests to prepare for with the limited time we have each day. The students are looking forward to coming this summer and will be doing different activities for enrichment camp, such as creating slime, dissecting owl pellets, and doing various Social-Emotional Learning activities with arts and crafts. My hope for the students is that they will be able to see just how fun science is and how it's way more than assignments on their laptop. Any help is appreciated!
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
It’s been a while since we’ve seen an owl-pellet project, and meanwhile, some new-to-us videos have hit YouTube. Here’s one!
Amazingly, both our projects from last week were completed! (I was sure that big one was going to take a while!) Many thanks to all our readers for helping this happen.
Project #1, Turning Evidence Into Answers: Mrs. Ward hoped her high school forensic science students in Yuma, Arizona would get a chance to use a microscope, among other tools.
She writes: Thank you so much for helping bring hands on learning to my students. We can now do my labs instead of learning science with just paperwork! These lab supplies can be used over and over again. My students now will have the opportunity to "do" science instead of just read about it!
Project #2, STEM-tastic Reading: Mrs. G’s North Carolina elementary school needed books, and also materials for activities related to the stories. It certainly looks as if the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation, who were matching donations, just got tired of waiting sometime on Friday, probably wanting to go home for the long weekend 😉, and just funded the remaining amount. As I write, Mrs. G. has not yet seen the good news, but we’ll bring you her note when it’s available.
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 1105! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.