This week, we’re helping an Ohio kindergarten get some Lego “Duplo” building bricks and the animals that fit with them, and a Houston preschool class get a classroom aquarium. 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, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that facilitates tax-deductible donations to specific, vetted projects in public schools.
As often happens, we did well with this large project last week, so we’ve moved it up here this week. Mrs. McGuire’s Dayton, Ohio kindergarten would benefit from some Duplo-size Legos (the larger size bricks, easier for smaller children to handle), including a set of animals that fit with the blocks.
PROJECT #1
Resources: Help me give my students new legos for building cities with their minds and imaginations!
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: Trotwood-Madison Early Learning Center, Trotwood, Ohio
Total: $391.24
Still Needed: $271.24 $156.24
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. McGuire:
My Students: My students are from Trotwood, Ohio. They come from low-income families who may live paycheck to paycheck. Students receive free breakfast and lunch at school each day.
This school has limited income to purchase new furniture and supplies for students coming to school for the first time.
Some of my students come to school with no supplies and without a backpack!
My kindergartners would love to have a classroom where they can explore, write, and color. Children should have a classroom that is clean and safe for their learning. However, the burden for purchasing supplies often falls on the teacher. The cost of school supplies for families that have multiple children can be a hardship to families' basic needs.
All children should have the opportunity to learn in a kindergarten class!
My Project: My students have a strong need to build in kindergarten. Please help me get more legos in my room. Kids need to learn through STEM creativity with the legos.
These kiddos love using their hands to create small towns and roads.
Children who are 5 or 6 learn through play— communicating, sharing and being a friend. This all builds upon SEL and oral development.
Students who can speak well will succeed in reading!!
Support my classroom by donating to my project that gives more than play in my kindergarten classroom.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Here’s the fun set of animals that’s part of this request.
Whereas these “Lego animals” are quite impressive, lifesize-or-larger animals built of Legos by artist Sean Kenney. This set of twelve appeared at the Indianapolis Zoo in 2016. Both the video host and the zoo representative are a little annoying to listen to, but what they’re telling us about the art is actually worth hearing.
Ms. S. teaches preschool in Houston, and would love for her students to have an aquarium in their classroom.
PROJECT #2
Resources: Help me give my students an aquarium for them to be able to understand the underwater world of fish.
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: Jewel Askew Elementary School, Houston, Texas
Total: $370.81
Still Needed: $295.81 Completed — thank you!
Teacher’s Comments from Ms. S.:
My Students: Our school is a Title I school located in Houston, TX. We are a Preschool through 5th-grade school. More than 50% of the students receive free or reduced-price lunch. Our students enjoy coming to school every day. It is a safe place for them to learn, socialize, and be creative. Preschool is a place of discovery and learning. We want our students to get the most out of their education. This way they are prepared and ready to move on to Kindergarten!
My Project: I would like an aquarium in my classroom. An aquarium will introduce the students to a wonderful underwater world. Having an animal they are responsible for will teach them empathy and responsibility. It will also help teach them about compassion for a life other than their own.
Having fish in the classroom will also create a fun and safe place for students to read with the fish or write a letter to them.
It will also allow for an opportunity for all of us to learn more about their habitat and what things they need to survive and be happy.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
This class is older students, fifth graders, but they are still very excited when an aquarium comes to their room.
These folks are operating at a much higher skill level than a grade-school classroom’s fresh water tank, but they’ve captured some remarkable footage as their clownfish laid eggs in their salt-water tank, and they successfully raised 25 baby fish.
Our main project from last week was completed, thanks in large part to our readers, our readers/ We also have a note from a previous project to share.
Last week’s project #1, STEM Kits Boost Engagement: Ms. Kirkman’s Iowa sixth-graders have been reading The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, and they needed to work on a wind-energy project.
She writes: Thank you for choosing our project to fund. The students are going to be jumping out of their seats when the STEM materials arrive. It would be impossible for the supplies on this project to be in our classroom without your support. They have been asking each day if we will be able to create the wind turbines- tomorrow I get to answer yes! Thank you!!
And then, there was project #2 from the previous week, Growing Wild!: The project was completed late in the week, so we had to wait a bit for the news to travel. Mrs. Swilley wanted her Mississippi high school students to do a hands-on project raising carnivorous plants, but her school didn’t have the resources.
She writes: I am overjoyed to receive your donations to make this project possible! Projects like this creates a sense of pride and enthusiasm for learning. I really appreciate your time and support. As a teacher in a low-income area it is a treat for my students to experience these types of labs, otherwise, we would not be able to perform these types of projects.
DonorsChoose has developed a new designation for schools that submit projects. Equity Focus Schools 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 combats the anti-science push in conservative America by funding science and math projects in red-state 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 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 944! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.