This week, we're working on a big project to buy numerous interesting science experiment kits for a Virginia elementary school. The project’s matching funds have run out, so we’re focused on it alone this week, in the hope of getting it closer to completion! 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.
Last week, nomandates started us off for 2019 with this substantial project. It had matching funds at that time, and most of our donations were matched. However, the matching funds ultimately ran out, as they will sometimes do. We got this puppy about halfway home, but now, it has a January 20 deadline, so we have three Sundays left to work with it (expiration is at the end of the given day). Under the circumstances, I am not putting up an additional project this week.
Let’s see if we can push it close enough to the finish line that it moves up the DonorsChoose “most urgent” list and gets viewed by other donors who’ll help us get it funded. (We have seldom failed to push a project to completion, and I have high hopes for this one, but please be assured that your donation doesn’t vanish into a black hole if the project fails to be funded! It is returned to your DonorsChoose account so you can re-apply it to another project.)
MAIN PROJECT
Resources: Help me give my students these STEM, Chemistry, & Biology Learning Kits. The Inquiries in Science: Understanding Properties of Matter Kit will be so engaging. They will learn so much from each of these hands on experiences.
Economic need: Nearly all students from low‑income households
Location: Granby Elementary School, Norfolk, Virginia
Total: $1,148.31
Still Needed: $621.25 $424.48
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. B.:
My Students: As a teacher in a Title I school district, my students are faced with several challenges both in and out of the classroom. Despite the many challenges they face, they are capable of so many great things. I want them to become thinkers and problem solvers. I want the world to become relevant to their learning. I want them to love learning.
They are creative, clever and very spontaneous but need the chance to explore this.
Many of them are being raised in single parent households and we have a high military population. Exposure to nightly reading and vocabulary may be limited. This may prevent them from getting ahead early in life and may not provide them with the life experiences many of us see as "typical". From the minute they walk in the door of my classroom, I focus on their potential and growth while they are with me. I am teaching them how to be leaders and get ready for higher education and their career choices in the STEM fields.
My Project: With this STEM project and multiple types of STEM Learning Kits, my students will be able to utilize our Science Learning Lab to its full potential and to THEIR full potential. The students will be able to focus on their surrounding and make a conscious effort of what they are noticing and doing with their hands and their minds while using these STEM Learning kits, thus motivating them to investigate and dig deeper.
Using hands on STEM Learning Kits and conducting scientific investigations regularly will encourage students to wonder and ask more “why” questions.
The Owl Pellets, Essence of Slime and Chemical Reaction Kits are just a few of the learning kits that my students will be able to make real life scientific connections to. This will make them better communicators, keen observers and confident enough to take on the world of STEM. We will use all of these STEM labs for our Mad Science Club before school activities, Reading and Math integration lessons, and STEM experiments throughout the day for all grade levels.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Our other two projects from last week were completed!
Our main project, Math Supplies for Active Engagement, will bring Ms. Meyers some tools and activities to help her Missouri special needs pre-school students develop better understanding of basic math concepts. She writes: Thank you so much for the words of encouragement and the donations to help fund my project. My students will be super excited about the new interactive and engaging resources that will be available to them. I appreciate this so much and feel very blessed about this opportunity that you have helped to provide my students and me with.
And in STEM for Kindergarten, Ms. Wilt’s South Carolina kindergarteners are about to be surprised with a coding robot, an ant farm, and a planter that allows them to watch seeds sprout and grow roots! She writes: I am so excited that this project was funded! My students are going to be thrilled to use these STEM supplies! I cannot wait to watch their enthusiasm and interest grow. Hands on activities are crucial for comprehension. Thank you so much for your generosity and support of my classroom!
Our Dollars at Work
In September, we helped Mrs. Harrell’s Mississippi high school juniors and seniors get scientific calculators to help them in their college-level algebra course. These kids, trying to bust out of a poultry-industry town, are taking college courses in high school so they can graduate college more quickly. The project was High School Students Taking College Classes. (More photos at the link.)
Thanks for donating to Morton High School students. My students were very excited to get the calculator in. Every student was able to use a calculator for their final exam. I was able to let the students check out a calculator over night so they could work on their homework.
My students will be able to use the calculators every year. Thanks for thinking of my students. I had 17 students that took College Algebra this semester. The students were excited that the calculators rationalized radicals for them.
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 713! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.org.