This week, we’re helping two elementary-school projects: a Lancaster, Pennsylvania classroom needs to do a dinosaur project, and a Georgia elementary STEM lab needs some coding robots. 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.
This is our third week on this ambitious project, and we’re doing so great that it is now project #1! Ms. Mitchell teaches all grades in the STEM lab at the elementary school in this Georgia town, and she needs some coding robots to bring computer science to the students.
We still have 2x matching funds from The Ned and Nathalie Fund, which does not offer its own statement, but its current effort is described this way by DonorsChoose: The Ned and Nathalie Fund is supporting projects at Rural schools from teachers who graduated from Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
PROJECT #1
Resources: Help me give my students DASH robots to support our robotics program and STEM program.
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: Cooper-Carver Elementary School, Dawson, Georgia
Total: $953.46 (2x matching funds from The Ned and Nathalie Fund)
Still Needed: $593.79 Completed, thank you! Please consider project #2 below.
Project description by Ms. Valisa Mitchell: Dash robots play a big part in my Computer Science program. My students love programming the Dash robots. It's an easy way to teach coding to my younger students.
My wish is to have a classroom set of Dash robots for my students.
I teach grades PreK - 5, and they love working with Dash. They are learning to translate what they have learned using code.org to code the Dash robots. It's amazing to have them tell me, "We learned this using code.org." I have about 20 students per class period. This is a good start to our collection of Dash Robots.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
An elementary teacher talks about using Dash with both kindergarten and third grade.
Here is our new project #2! Mr. Aronson wants his Pennsylvania fourth graders to get an immersive dinosaur experience including Lego dinosaur-building sets and dinosaur books.
PROJECT #2
Resources: Help me give my students STEM engagement and reading support connected to a topic they love!
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: Wickersham Elementary School, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Total: $467.44
Still Needed: $467.44 $373.61
Project description by Mr. Aronson: I created this project to ask for your help in bringing excitement, learning, and creativity to my classroom. Our school serves a community with limited resources, where students often face challenges accessing the tools they need to fully engage in their education. Through our DonorsChoose project, I aim to provide my students with the opportunity to explore the world of dinosaurs through Lego sets and books, creating an enriching, hands-on learning experience that will inspire both their imagination and their academic growth.
Lego sets have had such a critical impact on my students this year, being used as incentive, but also in making connections from the sets they build to the books and content that they are learning about.
The Lego sets will allow my students to build and create their favorite dinosaurs, fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork skills as they work together to bring their creations to life. These activities will also strengthen their fine motor skills, spatial awareness, and creativity. Paired with the dinosaur-themed books, which will broaden their knowledge of science, history, and storytelling, this project will open new worlds of discovery. For many of these children, a hands-on, engaging learning experience like this is an opportunity they might not otherwise have.
Your generous support will help to make this possible. By contributing to this project, you are directly impacting the lives of young learners in a low-income, urban school setting. You will not only provide materials that will engage students but also build their confidence, curiosity, and love for learning. Thank you for considering this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children who are eager to learn but lack the resources to fully explore their potential. Together, we can create a classroom where imagination and education thrive.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
I know that our readers know what Lego looks like, and what dinosaurs look like, so here instead, for fun, is a revision of the Jurassic Park T rex scene with OwlKitty as the star. (If you are interested in how Lizzy the cat was swapped in, you can find that story here.)
Our project #1 from last week was completed! A big thank you to our readers!
Project #1, Don't Be Puzzled: Ms. Nelson hoped to establish a jigsaw puzzle table in her Oklahoma City elementary school library.
She writes: Thank you for your generous contribution to my Puzzle project for the school library. Our students (and teachers) enjoy the time spent working puzzles in the calming environment of the library. I am very excited to be able to provide new updated puzzles, since we have been recycling through our old ones. Thank you for your support of public school libraries.​
| 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 1158! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.
