Donorschoose.org

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[cjp1973]

Happy Earth Day!!!
KivaFriend CherylS has a new project for rechargeable batteries for her class, a wonderful project for Earth Day!
Power Us Up!
"Spring is in full bloom, and just when we should be charging forward, we are feeling powerless. Why? Our batteries are dead!

We are an innovative high school which uses project-based learning to engage students. We want all our students to be college-ready by the time they graduate. To this end, we teach not only the 3 R's, but also the 3 T's: Trying, Teamwork, and Technology. Our students live in one of the poorest counties in our state, but they are eager and enthusiastic - especially when they can get their hands on cameras, recorders, and computers."

"State budget cuts have not allowed us to order the "little" things that keep our school technology running - things like batteries. Our dead batteries are collecting in a little "coffin", waiting to be delivered to the local recycling center on our next trip. The box is nearly full, which means our cameras are nearly empty. I hope to restock the cameras for our last project of the year - one designed to help my students ace their end-of-course English test. For this project, student teams of two will review their areas of confusion in grammar, then use Flip cameras, digital cameras, and voice recorders to produce an engaging short film wherein they teach the rest of the class. Through Trying, Teamwork, and Technology, our student teachers will achieve greater understanding and confidence. With rechargeable batteries, my students will have the power to complete many, many more projects to come, and to help preserve the environment as well.

We can power-up our cameras and recorders by using rechargeable NiMH batteries. These environmentally-friendly power sources will help empower my students' learning, and not just in English content. A real-world lesson comes too - one that students can take home with them. They will see that using rechargeable batteries can help not just Mother Earth, but Mom's bank account.

You can find it herehttp://

[cjp1973]

Because of the successful voting of so many Kivafriends during the bing.com earthdayphotocontest, and in turn adding projects, the KivaFriends Giving Page has bulged to over 25 projects.  There are many wonderful ones to choose from.  Take a peek  

[cjp1973]

While surfing today I noticed a new Barnes & Noble matching offer on a couple of our projects on the KivaFriends Giving Page
which brings the amount needed way down.

They are:

Pennies For Peace: Service Learning and Global Citizenship   $51 needed
A Long Way Gone $103 needed
Students Speaking Swahili! $121 needed

There are at least 3 others that have dropped below $100 as well.

[cjp1973]

Last week after the Barnes and Noble Double Your Impact came and went just as quickly, it is now back.  And with my crazy love of reading I went reading through their list of available projects last night.  Some wonderful projects!  Here are a few projects that have been added to the KivaFriends Giving Page  I will also post the Three Cups of Tea projects on that thread here at kivafriends.

Books for Back to School!
Help us learn to love reading! As we return to school this fall, we would love some crisp new books to encourage our students to jump back into reading!

My students are English Language Learners in a school with 93% poverty. My students are refugees from Burma. They were not able to attend school in their native country so they are learning to read for the first time in their lives. Many of them are then able to return home to teach their parents English and to read. Through the use of books many of our students are learning to speak and read."

"I am requesting a variety of books for our classroom library. Students can borrow these books anytime and enjoy learning from both fiction and non-fiction books. With 255 ELL students, having a well stocked library of books makes a real difference in encouraging them to read. In my six years of teaching and raising my own children, it has become clear the single most important thing I will teach my students is a passion for reading. Once we have achieved that, they will be lifelong readers, learners and informed people. Please help me continue to inspire children to be great readers! 

Building Character and Community Through Read Alouds
Every child, no matter the age, can enjoy a wonderful tale being read to them to start their day. Through read alouds we can all begin school together as a family and experience stories the way they were meant to be heard!

My students come from an area of low socioeconomic status and broken homes. They face daily situations that can truly destroy their hopes and positive attitudes. All the students in my classroom are African American and we currently have a 97 percent free and reduced lunch rate. They struggle with making correct decisions and exhibiting positive character traits.

"With the help of your donation, my students can come to school each and every day and feel safe as part of a class community. We cannot control how their day starts before coming to school, but we can help determine how their day will begin and continue when they walk through the school doors. Our class has been participating in family read alouds every morning and I have definitely noticed a major change. A change in the student's attitudes, character, decision making skills, and general love for books and respect for each other. We need more titles that address dealing with tough situations, acceptance, community and character education. My children ask every morning, "When are we listening to the read aloud?" They are fifth grade students and they love being read to and truly listen to the message and apply these life skills. We can foster positive character traits through the sharing of a great story!

I am sure you can remember some memorable stories when you were in elementary school. I am sure you remember the teacher that read them to you. I want to provide my students with this experience of listening to a powerful story with a positive message. I want to be that teacher and have that classroom where my students feel safe, loved and know that they have the capability to become positive individuals. No matter what they face at home and in society, we can help with this!

Not for Sale:Ending Human Trafficking w/Literature & Writing
Being located near the border means being near one of the largest child sex trafficking sites in the U.S.; our students are bombarded with the reality of the illegal trafficking of children into sex slavery. They have no choice but to live this devastation, and are now combating it with education.

Our student created curriculum is designed around becoming agents of change and enabling students to end the illegal trade of humans. The following are the primary tenants of their mission: 1. Students create and run campaigns, in which they create Public Service Announcements, informational pamphlets, Pod-casts, and documentaries; 2. Students compile a creative writing anthology in which they reflect on personal experiences with human trafficking as well as writing from the point of view of both victims and characters in novels; 3. Students organize and facilitate workshops to educate the community on human trafficking as well as other issues concerning women’s rights. In addition, students read a literary text that aligns with the curriculum. As per their request, it is our goal to obtain a class set of Sold, by Patricia McCormick, so that we can read the text as a whole."

"However, a class of 40 is currently sharing 6 copies of the novel Sold by Patricia McCormick, a novel that they adore and read with ferocity that I can only admire. It is our desire to have a class set of the novel Sold so that we can read the text as a community of readers and better our understanding of the humane element of human trafficking that the narrator’s thirteen-year-old voice conveys. The text allows for a very unique complexity where the reader finds an achingly beautiful peace when faced with such a vulgar and damaging storyline. Sold has such an impact on my students because my students know, first hand, the horrific circumstances in which the main character must survive. We would love to use the novel as our primary mentor text for writing & for analyzing modern literature, voice and social issues. We hope that creating an atmosphere of discourse, similar to that of a university environment, will encourage students to become active agents of change in the community.

Your help will ensure that my students have a common resource within the realm of literature. Not only will the novels serve to improve social understanding, they will also serve to increase literacy, oral language, and writing technique. It's their responsibility to use their voices to educate and inspire change by passing on their words/insight. And now I ask you to do the same, to give back what you can so that the recipients of your generosity can generate change and empowerment in others.

My students need 30 copies of the novel Sold, by Patricia McCormick, in order to assist them in becoming social agents of change in the fight to end human trafficking."

[Mona]

I am happy to announce that the Kivafriends Giving Page has reached the amazing milestone of ....

$ 10,000!!!
 

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has helped to make this milestone come true changing by this not only the lives of 14,550 kids but also their teachers, families and communities.  Kivafriends are just the best!

As it was me - thanks to a giving card Charmaine provided me with - who had the honor to break this milestone I know also which project it was that made us cross the line. 

To pay homage to how all this started I have chosen one of the current Three Cups of Tea projects to be "the one": The Coretta Scott King and Caldecott Collection. It is currently only $136 away from reaching its funding goal as Barnes & Nobles is so generous to pay 50% of the costs.

And now I will leave the floor to the kids who will benefit from this wonderful project, because it seems they have known before that something like this might happen. Here they are   :

[Dolphine]

Amazing Ramona!  I so enjoy joining in with my fellow Kiva Friends on Donor's Choose.  As I have been withdrawing all my funds from Kiva, it is nice to keep the connection with you all.    Onward to $20,000!!!!

[cjp1973]

Today's Deal: Double Your Charitable Donation to DonorsChoose.org, Starting at $10 for $20 Worth of Aid for Public School Projects
Support the public school project of your choice with today's side deal, which lets you double your charitable donation to DonorsChoose.org through generous funding by the Pershing Square Foundation. DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that connects individuals with classrooms in need, allowing members of the general public to become philanthropists. This Groupon is valid for redemption starting on June 2, 2010.

Choose from the following donations:

    * $10 for $20
    * $25 for $50
    * $50 for $100
    * $100 for $200
    * $250 for $500

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu2922526  By using this referral code and purchaing these half off Donors choose giving cards, if this is your 1st purchase, I will receive $10 groupon bucks.  Which I will then in turn use to purchase a $20 Donors Choose card.  Whoever uses the referral and earns me the $10 will pick the project you want the $20 to go to either from the kivafriends giving page or any project on the site.....How fun!  Let's earn some bucks and complete some projects.  This runs until Sunday!

Charmaine

[Dolphine]

Kiva Friends, 

A daughter of friends has a project listed on Donor's Choose.  She works in high poverty school in North Carolina with English as second language primarily.  She is a relatively new teacher and needs some help.   Thanks in advance for any that could help.


http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=386718&utm_source=dc&utm_campaign=facebook&utm_medium=sharebar&givingCartId=471737&gcRedeem=NA09-102

[cjp1973]

A couple projects to highlight that have been added to the KivaFriends Giving Page in the last couple of weeks by wonderful kivafriends.

Young Artists and the Gulf Coast Disaster
Our school population is a varied one: Vietnamese, African-American, Hispanic and Caucasian. Despite their differences, all of my students have two things in common: talent in visual art and concern regarding BP's oil disaster. Sketches done in May showed a passion about this that we can build on.

My students' families are dependent upon the health of our coastal waters. They are fishing families, seafood processors, restaurateurs, etc.. Every one of my children has experienced the pleasure of a crawfish boil, seafood po-boy or gumbo. Many have joined their families on early morning boat trips out to the marshlands. Their experiences in the community, family and culture are based almost entirely on the wonderful gifts of the natural surroundings where we have chosen to make our homes.

In May, when the pipe breaks occurred, my students created some sketches of the wildlife they are familiar with, wildlife they know is at risk. These sketches were the heartfelt results of personal experience. I would love to give my young artists the opportunity to develop these sketches into paintings and more involved works of art.

As a practicing visual artist, I understand that art is not something apart from experience but is intrinsically integrated into culture, times and experience. This disaster is horrific, yet inspiring. Through it, we recognize how precious yet vulnerable our local environment is. My students, who have all been evaluated and identified as being gifted in visual art have already demonstrated an understanding of this through the perfunctory sketches that were completed during the last few days of the 2009-2010 school year. I hope to facilitate the creation of tributes to our coastal culture and the creatures of the marshlands. They can discuss how this came about, how to prevent it from occurring again and express that concern in art and in their lives as they grow into adults.

These projects can be a labor not only of love, but of catharsis, healing and hope.

Upon the traditional year-end cleaning of our art closet, I realized that we are down to a ream of lightweight drawing paper, a few half-bottles of acrylics, some dried out markers and a few boxes of crayons. My students have had a very productive year despite a non-existent budget. I desire nothing more than to give them the materials they deserve. If you, the folks that make up Donor's Choose, come through for my students, you will enable them to produce and exhibit a relevant body of work.

Learning To Cook with Multiple Disabilities
My students with multiple disabilities have several challenges that they face daily. My students do this with an amount of courage I can't even imagine. They need daily living skills so that they can have a functional life in their community after high school.

My students are unique and such an inspiration to myself. They all attend a regular high school in a poverty stricken district. We have 70 percent free and reduced lunches in our district. The students I teach all have multiple disabilities. They love school and are such a joy to be around. They make you appreciate the simple things in life. They don't dwell on what they can't do, but what they can do. It's such a privilege to work with these students and assist them in acquiring the skills they will need after graduation.

These resources will enable my students to learn some cooking skills that they will need to know either in assisted living or independent living. Daily living skills are important part of their curriculum and it is necessary to have these tools to show these students how to prepare different foods. We will be able to do cooking activities and showing them that they can learn to cook. This would be a priceless lesson for these students.

You can make it possible for these students to learn to cook different items and know that they are capable of doing this. Imagine being dependent on everyone else for everything. You can give them back some of their independence. I can't begin to tell you what this will mean to them. Thanks for taking the time to view this project.

Through the Eyes of a Child!
Have you ever wanted to view the world through a four year old's eyes? Well I have and would like the chance to do it! I would like to have my students take pictures of things that are special to them and then share it with the rest of the school to show how diverse people are in our school!

My children are fun, curious, bright, funny 4 and 5 year olds. They all are from low income families and the majority are learning English as a second language. My children are so appreciative of anything and are so eager to learn about the world

As this world becomes more diverse so do our children. Do we always know what they are thinking? Do we understand what the world looks like through their eyes? We create activities and have our own ideas about what we think these children enjoy and find special but is it truly special to them? I want to do an activity that will allow all the children in the classroom to take pictures of what is special or means a lot to them. Then I would like to have school staff look at the pictures, guess what they think the child was trying to capture in the photo, then reveal what the child was actually thinking when they took the picture. I think this activity will open my eyes as their teacher and also other teachers in my school as to what our children are really interested in or are really thinking about how things work in the world.

Like I said before, I want to do my best to give my students fun, loving childhood memories. Unfortunately, there is only so much I can do using my own money. With the donation of a digital camera it would be a way to capture the joy the kids bring to the classroom.

[Diane R]

Funny that you mention this.  I have discussed this 3 times this week.  While I think many people overlook it, you can opt out of the 18% optional donation on the check out page.  But it will and does fund the project,  even if no one who donates to the project includes the 18%.  I have tried it. 

I know this is off-topic for the "Feedback on Donations tests" thread, so I moved it here.  I don't want to disagree with you, but I just tried an experiment: I found a project at DonorsChoose which I liked, and which needed a relatively small amount to complete, about $11 plus a $40 "optional donation".  I funded the project for $13, and opted out of the "optional" donation, and after paying for my committed amount, I checked the project page again.  The cost without the "optional donation" was $187; the amount contributed so far is $190, but the project is not listed as funded, it still shows $38 remaining -- all of which are the "optional" donation.

This agrees with my previous experience, that DonorsChoose will not consider a project fully funded unless the entire 18% "optional" donation is paid for.  I will continue to fund projects there, but it's disingenuous of them to call these donations "optional", when in fact the donation amount must be covered if the project is to be considered fully funded.  (And to return to the KF thread, I truly hope Kiva does not decide to take this route for future funding.)

--Diane.