This week, we’re helping a Las Vegas middle school teacher get enough copies of a novel for her whole class, and a Texas second grade teacher get the new equipment that did not come with her new science curriculum. 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.
(Friends, I’m away at a family thing, and now (around 10:45 am ET) am about to head out for a while, so forgive me for being slow to acknowledge you and update the diary. I promise I’ll be back late in the day!)
We have a new project #1 this week!
Mrs. Kandt has a book she’d like her Las Vegas middle school class to read together, and she’s hoping to get a set of copies so everyone can have one.
PROJECT #1
Resources: Help me give my students a class set of the book Wonder to allow for independent reading and a novel study.
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: Mario C & Joanne Monaco Middle School, Las Vegas, Nevada
Total: $398.54
Still Needed: $194.13 $104.72
Project description by Mrs. Kandt: As a teacher in a Title I school, I am passionate about providing my students with engaging, high-quality literature that fosters a love of reading and critical thinking. However, access to classroom novel sets is limited, making it difficult for every student to have a personal copy to follow along with during lessons.
With your support, I hope to provide my students with a full classroom set of "Wonder" by RJ Palacio, a novel that will not only improve their literacy skills but also open doors to discussions about kindness, acceptance, empathy, identity, and bullying.
This novel will be a cornerstone of our curriculum, helping students strengthen comprehension skills, explore different perspectives, and develop a lifelong appreciation for literature. Many of my students come from underserved communities where books at home are scarce, so access to engaging reading material in school is even more critical.
Your generosity will put books directly into students' hands, giving them the tools they need to succeed academically and beyond. Thank you for helping us build a community of confident and capable readers!
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
The requested novel, Wonder, is about a child with facial differences. I’m kind of sorry this project doesn’t have longer until completion, just because the author, R.J. Palacio, has done so many interesting interviews I’d like to put here. For today, she speaks about her experience having the book become a movie, but if you would like to hear more from her, there’s plenty on YouTube!
Our new project #2 from last week has made some excellent progress!
Ms. Tullos teaches second grade in a small Texas town north of Houston. She’s trying to do a new science program with only old, beaten-up equipment, and she needs our help.
PROJECT #2
Resources: Help me give my students they tools they need to learn about the world around them.
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; more than half of students from low‑income households.
Location: Corrigan-Camden Elementary School, Corrigan, Texas
Total: $524.00
Still Needed: $275.76 $186.35
Project description by Ms. Tullos: We have adopted a new science program and we have very few tools. Our magnifying glasses are scratched up and very old. We don't have a working microscope even though we study cells. We do an in depth study of insects both in science and our reading knowledge unit but do not have realistic models and have to rely on internet pictures. This is not the best way to get students to engage and get excited about what they are learning. I want to help my students love science by doing hands-on activities instead of just reading a book and looking at pictures. These materials will also be shared with my fellow second grade teachers.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
In this short but detailed documentary about the ant life cycle, we learn it’s more complicated than we might have thought. An ant life cycle model set is one of the requested items for this project.
Our project #1 from last week was completed! Thanks to our readers for getting it done!
Project #1, Molecular Fusion: Mrs. Rivera teaches the middle-school grades in a very tiny town south of Phoenix. She was seeking some models to enhance her science teaching.
As I write, she has not yet seen the good news, but we’ll bring you her note whenever it shows up!
| 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 1172! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.
