This week, we’re helping an Iowa sixth grade work on wind-powered projects, and an Ohio kindergarten get some Lego “Duplo” building bricks and the set of animals that fit with them. 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.
This sixth-grade class is part of a Des Moines program for students with special needs. They’ve been reading The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, and would love a hands-on project about wind power. This project currently has matching funds from Infosys Foundation USA: At Infosys Foundation USA, our mission is to expand computer science and maker education to K-12 students and teachers across the nation, especially those in underrepresented communities. We want to ensure everyone has the skills they need to become creators, not just consumers, of technology.
PROJECT #1
Resources: Help me give my students Wind Power Science Experiment Kits, Table Top Robots, Percy Jackson books, and more.
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: FOCUS Program, Des Moines, Iowa
Total: $382.55 (2x matching funds from Infosys Foundation USA)
Still Needed: $273.73 Completed, thanks! Please consider project #2.
Teacher’s Comments from Ms. Kirkman:
My Students: Our school is a unique program for students with emotional and behavioral needs. Teachers, associates, and therapists work with students in third through eighth grade to support their academic and social-emotional growth. My sixth graders work tremendously hard to master our learning standards, but we also take time to develop our strengths and broaden our understanding of others. We incorporate STEAM activities into language arts and math, which allow students to build and design.
Our students are innovators, risk-takers, and active problem-solvers who excel when given project-based opportunities that tap into their creativity and generosity.
Students constantly amaze me, and I look forward to each smile, each act of happiness, and their desire to learn more! I am thankful I was selected to be their teacher.
My Project: Our program serves students with significant behavioral and emotional needs. Each day they work hard to stay regulated and make academic gains. When the students can learn through hands-on activities, their engagement increases and their anxiety lowers. Students are tackling the concept of energy and reading The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind. The wind-powered generator kits would allow them to build models, examine how they work, and increase their understanding of the science and the text.
Engaging students with STEM allows them to explore, question, and develop a deep understanding of concepts.
The table top robotics kits will allow them to build a small model and make observations of how the mechanics work within the robot. The handheld game will help students stay focused, yet take a break when needed.
The Percy Jackson book set was requested by the class after we finished the first book. They are completely blown away by the characters.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Here’s the wind-power project kit that’s among the items being requested.
We’ve seen video about William Kamkwamba’s true story, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, here before, but I don’t think we have seen the trailer of the 2019 Netflix film by director Chiwetel Ejiofor:
Chiwetel Ejiofor speaks with Trevor Noah about making the film in Malawi where the original events took place.
This kindergarten near Dayton, Ohio, as is sadly typical of schools we look at, doesn’t have the resources to supply materials that students in wealthier districts use to learn needed skills. Mrs. McGuire hopes her class can get 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 #2
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: $371.24 $271.24
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.
Both of our projects from last week were completed, with a big helping hand from our readers!
Project #1, 2nd Grade Books for Inferring: Mrs. Mixon’s South Carolina second grade needed to work on making inferences, and she had some books in mind to help them.
She writes: Thank you SO much for your kind donation to our project! Christmas has come early for our class and we are beyond excited! These books will mainly be used for my 2nd graders to learn how to infer, however they also make for some wonderful read alouds! Thanks again for helping fund our project. The world needs more kind people like you in it! Merry Christmas and stay safe!
Project #2, Growing Wild!: Mrs. Swilley wants her Mississippi high school students to do a hands-on project raising carnivorous plants, but her school doesn’t have the resources.
As I write, the project was completed so recently that Mrs. Swilley doesn’t know it yet, but we will bring you her note whenever she learns the good news!
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 943! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.