This week, we’re helping a Louisiana class subscribe to a math magazine that offers print and digital resources, and a Missouri class get some big Lego projects that will challenge their problem-solving skills. 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 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.
I’ve been watching this project for a while, hoping it would get more in the range we’d normally pick as a main project, but it’s been kind of stalled. Erath, Louisiana is located on the Gulf coast south of Lafayette, and I finally decided, they’ve been walloped by so many hurricanes, local money is probably finding other targets right now. Meanwhile, this resource can help students whether the school building is open or not. Let’s take a shot at it!
MAIN PROJECT
Resources: Help me give my students a subscription to Scholastic Math for real-world math in action to help spark their interest and build their confidence.
Economic need: Nearly all students from low‑income households
Location: Erath Middle School, Erath, Louisiana
Total: $215.46
Still Needed: $165.46 $88.46
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. Hebert:
My Students: Our students are always striving to be better every single day. We come prepared, aim high, take responsibility, and show respect.
Our amazing 7th graders work extremely hard to stay at the top of their class.
They are hardworking, clever, and on the path to academic success.
Our school serves students in grades 6-8 and provides rigorous academics, fantastic teachers, and a safe learning environment. As a result, we are consistently one of the top-performing schools in the state every year.
My Project: I am requesting a subscription to Scholastic Math for real-world math in action to help spark my students' interest and build their confidence. These magazines capture real-world math in action. Each article applies math concepts to a high-interest topic and features motivating practice problems to build math confidence.
Scholastic Math will come in print and includes online resources that integrate literacy and prepare students for testing.
I would use these magazines (common core related sections) as an activity in my center work and also for students to explore when they finish test early. Also, I will be able to use the online resources in my google classroom for students to use on days they are doing distant learning.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
In this small town on the southern border of Missouri, Mrs. Brewer is working hard to bring some big Lego/Minecraft projects to her students. This project isn’t too big for us to take up because she’s currently getting 2x matching finds from Equitable. Why? Because luckily, it happens she’s included a no-touch thermometer in her request: Equitable values educators. We understand, now more than ever, safety is of paramount concern. This is why Equitable is matching donations to educators, students and schools across the United States for help securing PPE. We are proud to continue our long history in serving you.
LONG-TERM PROJECT
Resources: Help me give my students a learning experience that they will remember for a lifetime and unlock an imagination to build and design.
Economic need: Nearly all students from low‑income households
Location: Current River Career Center, Doniphan, Missouri
Total: $594.22 (2x matching funds from Equitable)
Still Needed: $594.22 $444.22 ($223 from us)
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. Brewer:
My Students: Movers, creators, designers, and innovators are just a few words to describe my middle school students.
In my room, students can forget their worries and focus on what changes they can make in our society/world, to make life better for themselves and others.
Students are allowed to learn and appreciate the challenge of of trial and error. They learn that each trial is a learning experience.
This approach provides students with unique opportunities to work collaboratively, identify problems, apply what they know, persevere through challenges, find unique solutions, and lead their own learning.
My Project: My students will use the Lego sets to create and build designs that are beyond our normal expectations. Giving my students the materials and supplies to use Project-Based Learning, will equip and assist them in being career ready for their future plans.
I cannot do this alone, and I value your support to education in helping young minds create, design, and build their creativity.
Project-Based Learning is a valuable tool in teaching our future generations to have the tools they need to achieve and succeed, not just today, but everyday ahead.
Thank you.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
(This is one of the Lego sets requested.)
BOTH of our projects from last week were completed, I was pleasantly surprised to see! Sometimes, even if we don’t get very near to completion on our own, the activity we create causes the project to be shown to more potential donors who then create more activity, in the DonorsChoose version of our Rec/Trending List. Your support makes that possible!
Ms. Bates’ small-town high school on the Mississippi Gulf coast had no funds for a model skeleton for her biology students. We were able to help, thanks to the project Make No Bones About it, We Need a Skeleton.
She writes: I am beyond grateful for your donations. My students will appreciate and greatly benefit from this skeleton. I wish that you could all see their enthusiasm every day that they walk through the door. I know there are countless projects and it means a lot to me that you chose to support mine.
And, at an Arkansas middle school in the Ozarks, Mrs. Davenport wanted to bring her math students stories they could relate to, about math and also about “kindness, diversity, empathy, and being a good person!“ Her project was Books + Math = The Best of Both Worlds.
She writes: Thank you so much for your gracious donations towards this project! I am excited to get to share these books with my students who might not otherwise get to read or learn about these topics. I plan on using these in my regular math classroom to connect the world of math and literacy!
Our Dollars at Work
Early in May, Ms. Beech, like so many teachers, was struggling to keep her students engaged and learning during the initial phase of remote teaching brought on by the spread of Covid. She loved the science-laden novel The Martian, and was pleased to find its author had created a child-appropriate version for schools. Now all she needed was help to buy copies for her Florida “space coast” kids to read at home, and we could help with that! The project was Ultimate Quarantine - Reading The Martian. (More photos at the link.)
[my emphasis] Thank you so much for the gift of The Martian and for the excitement of having my project posted on The Daily Kos! It was exciting being able to pass out books in the free meal line and to go to the homes of students with gifts of reading!!! The students were so excited and happy!!!! In addition to the students who were in my class, I also distributed to other children who came through the meal line, but I wasn't able to photograph them. I think some of the parents were interested in this book for their own reading pleasure!!
This world has become a crazy and sometimes scary place for these young people. Being able to escape into literature has been spectacular. We appreciate your donation.
Founded in 2009, The Inoculation Project combats the anti-science push in conservative America by funding science and math projects in 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 science or math projects, 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 856! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.org.