This week, we’re finishing up a purchase of math stories for an Arkansas middle school, and taking up a Juneteenth project seeking books that bring powerful Black voices to a Georgia classroom. 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 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 project to help an Arkansas middle school math class get some fun fiction books about math is back this week, But it has come such a long way, it’s at a point where someone’s likely to come through and complete it over Saturday night! I’ll have to pick something big for the other project, so everyone who wants to participate will have a chance. We don’t like to leave anyone out. ;)
PROJECT #1
Resources: Help me give my students books that will help them see math in everyday settings.
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: University Heights School of Medical Arts, Jonesboro, Arkansas
Total: $438.82
Still Needed: $95.62 Completed — thank you! Please consider project #2.
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. Murphy:
My Project: My students work extremely hard in math class. Even though I only teach math, I do have a reading nook. Students can sit here and read when time allows. I am trying to build my classroom library to include books with a math theme.
Students ask why they need to know how to do math all the time.
By providing them with books that have a math theme, they can see how much math is utilized in our day to day lives. The books I am requesting will help students understand why math is so important.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Read-aloud videos of a couple of the books in this request. I was a bit startled to see that the illustrator of this book was Barbara McClintock, but it’s not THAT Barbara McClintock!
There’s a whole series of books about Sir Cumference and his equally punny relatives and fellow members of the royal court.
Since it’s Juneteenth, DonorsChoose is marking the occasion with a specially-selected group of projects that “are lifting up Black voices”. This literacy project at a Georgia elementary school requests many books that are well-chosen to do just that.
PROJECT #2
Resources: Help me give my students diverse books that represents them in the world.
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: Peachcrest Elementary School, Decatur, Georgia
Total: $594.26
Still Needed: $594.26 $413.26
Teacher’s Comments from Ms. Strozier:
My Project: Falling in love with a great book and getting lost in its words, should be an experience every student has. Providing and having access to diverse books addresses the concern that reading and representation matters.
Students will be able to see themselves in the pages of the book.
The collection of books will not only make a difference in learning but its reflection, will allow the students to see themselves, their families and their communities while fostering a sense of being valued.
This project will help change the narrative and promote life-long learner, self-esteem, one book at a time.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
I could pick only a few of the many good titles in the request to feature here!
Nikole Hannah-Jones talks with Trevor Noah about The 1619 Project. [9:52]
In a segment from just a few months ago, Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses book banning and why it’s harmful to everyone. (Between the World and Me is part of our project.) [5:13]
Stacey Abrams reads her picture book, Stacey’s Extraordinary Words. [9:44]
Our main project from last week was completed! That’s a big deal, because it was a very substantial project, even with matching funds, but you’ll remember the teacher took the trouble to come here and ask for our help. And our readers came through, for four Sundays in a row!
Project #1, Creating Millennial Scientists Through S.T.E.A.M Learning: Ms. Perez teaches first graders in Houston, and she had a long list of needs for her classroom to help her Bilingual Education students thrive.
She writes: Thank you very much for your kind and generous donation! We are very grateful that your organization supports Classroom Teachers and our students! Our classroom really appreciates this gift of literacy treasures for many, many years to come! Many Blessings to your organization for choosing our classroom for your donation!
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 combats the anti-science, anti-education push in conservative America by funding science, math, and literacy projects in red-state 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 978! (Boy, we’re getting close to that 1000-projects party! I’d better start making cake!) The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.