This week, we’re helping two elementary schools: in Houston, a school library needs a set of beautifully-illustrated reference books, and in Pennsylvania, a fourth grade would love to do a huge dinosaur project. 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.
We have a new project! Ms. L. is an Information Literacy Specialist in a Houston elementary school, and she is hoping to add to the library a set of well-regarded National Geographic illustrated reference books meant for young readers.
PROJECT #1
Resources: Help me give my students additional nonfiction books on highly requested topics for students to check out at the school library!
Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households.
Location: Vera Escamilla Elementary School, Houston, Texas
Total: $160.84
Still Needed: $160.84 Completed, thank you! Please consider project #2 below!
Project description by Ms. L.: In today's world, it's so important for students to cultivate a solid understanding of science and social studies! Nonfiction books open up a world of exploration into these fascinating topics while also encouraging critical thinking and building essential background knowledge.
I’d love to request an introduction series that helps students dive into the science and social studies concepts they’re curious about, even if they aren’t sure where to begin - this also includes topics that are highly requested by our Bulldogs scholars.
I’m really looking forward to getting a rocket soon!
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Here’s a short review of the volume in the series about space.
Last week we made terrific progress on this big project! 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: $373.61 $234.20
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!
A Lego collector has made a fun little video with stop-motion animation, presenting all the Lego dinosaurs in his considerable collection.
After our third week of work on our project #1 last week, it was completed — a huge thank you to everyone who helped!
Project #1, Dash-ing into Coding!: Ms. Mitchell teaches all grades in the STEM lab at a Georgia elementary school, and she needed some coding robots to bring computer science to the students..
She writes: This is amazing. Thank you for your generous donations. My students love DASH robots. They have learned so much about block coding using DASH. I can see their faces when I share the good news that our project has been completely funded by kind-hearted people. Once again, thank you for your donations and God bless.
| 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 1159! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.
