Known need alert: Euphoniums. What's a euphonium, you ask? It's what the Peterson Middle School band needs two of! Katie Gilchrist let us know that they really need two euphoniums: https://www.eastmanwinds.com/eep826. If we can find the funds, we'll try to help them out. This is what we do when you donate to SCSF: we hear about needs and try to help.
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Teaching is one of the only professions where it's known that those in the field are going to spend their own money on supplies. This is such a part of our culture that teachers can deduct up to $300 in teaching supplies from their taxes -- and almost every teacher spends more than $300/year on teaching supplies. Mrs. Paulson at Braly Elementary is one of those teachers, and thanks to our generous donors, we were able to get her some gift cards to Teachers Pay Teachers, a great resource for timely, modern lessons and resources. Here's what she said:
"Dear Santa Clara Schools Foundation, Thank you so much for your generous donations to our project. Because of you, I have been able to purchase a variety of teacher-created resources on Teachers Pay Teachers. I have found Social Emotional Learning activities and lessons covering such topics as Integrity, Empathy, and Growth Mindset. I have also been able to purchase English Learner content for my Newcomers who are new to the country and the language. I appreciate having support in covering the many costs that traditionally come out of educators' pockets. Every little bit helps. Thank you for your generosity! With gratitude, Mrs. Paulson" Jennifer Zeitler @ Central Park Elementary knows the power of project-based learning (PBL) and she's got a plan that will involve the entire school at the school garden. But it's hot out there, and sun safety is important. They need tents to shade entire classes from the sun, so if we can find the funds, we'll help them out!
Music teacher Katie Gilchrist at Peterson Middle School let us know that they need cellos -- at least one, and ideally more than one. They have some now, but they're so worn out they don't sound right or hold a tune. If we can find the money, we'll try to help them out! Here's what they need: http://kamimotostrings.com/instruments/art-chinois/
Ms. Denise at Bracher Elementary has spent years taking care of children before and after school. She's always looking for ways to keep them engaged, entertained, creating, and collaborating. When she came to us needing art supplies, we were able to help. When you donate to SCSF, this is the kind of thing we do! Here's what she said:
"Dear Santa Clara Schools Foundation, We want to thank you for the funky pens! The children are getting used to using these new double markers. They use them for their special drawings. Many of them think they are so special! We have never had those types of markers, so the children are getting new experiences and taking care of them. We appreciate the donors and their caring and generosity. Many of the children are figuring out the bracelet maker and connecting with others to create them for their friends. Our laminator has been used for artwork and a couple of projects so far. We thank you soo much and are grateful for your kindness. With gratitude, Mrs. Denise Salisbury" Ms. Emily at Central Park Elementary knows that humans are going to make mistakes. But what do we do when we make mistakes? We fix them. Humans need to stretch and grow and push themselves, even when there's a risk of failure. Ms. Emily crafts lessons that emphasize social/emotional learning and lessons that impart life lessons. How does she do it in the STEAM Makerspace? With clay. Building, planning, creativity, iterating, and experimentation are all celebrated in Ms. Emily's classroom, but without clay and glaze, those lessons can't take place. But thanks to our generous donors, we helped her out. Here's what she said:
"Dear Santa Clara Schools Foundation, At our school the 4th and 5th grades were offered STEAM rotations. They tried 6 different activities from 6 different teachers over the course of 6 weeks. Then, students were given a choice to pick a rotation. The rotation I taught was ceramics. I used the supplies I received from Donors Choose to supply my ration. During the rotation students learned a few basic techniques and glazed their pieces. Students learned how to make slabs and pinch pots. They also learned how to create connections to make handles and other things. Using these skills students were able to be creative in making anything from mugs, bowls, boxes, animals, figures and more! When I first brought out the materials the students were excited. They said things like, "the clay is so wet and messy" and "this feels really cool!". But the students had a challenging time understanding that the clay isn't like air dry or oven baked clay. There are more rules that have to be followed in ceramics so our pieces don't explode in the kiln. Such as being hollow in the center and having a small pin hole for the air to escape. It was a fun science lesson for them to learn about heat and expansion. Once they understood this, students had a wonderful time being creative. Students also had a challenging time understanding that glazing isn't painting. It's a bit different. Glazes are powders mixed together to create color and the glaze looks different before firing. Sometimes glaze will look red and then turn green or blue in the kiln. This was also very sciency but a little complicated with the chemistry for them to fully understand. But they were intrigued! Throughout this creative process there were some failures and students had to navigate flexibility and their emotions around these failures. Ceramics are a beautiful way to learn social/emotional skills (SEL). So many things can go wrong when building ceramics. First, you need to make sure that you connect the parts correctly, leave air holes and construct your piece effectively. Then, your piece goes into its first fire. During this step anything can happen even if you do everything right. Some students' pieces broke. The students were really positive about it and wanted to find solutions, like if they could glue it back together. Sometimes that is possible after you glaze but it is hard to glaze a broken piece. So, some pieces had to be thrown out. After the first fire, students glazed their pieces and they were fired a second time in the kiln. Again, in this stage anything can happen. Luckily, all the pieces came out looking beautiful! Finally, we had an art show to show off all their hard work. We invited families, 2nd and 3rd grade students and even district staff. The students were so proud of their work and loved showing it off to everyone. I want to continue to do ceramics with other students. Our STEAM rotations may change a bit on how we do them but I want to continue to teach ceramics to either my class or with all of 4th and 5th grade. There are a few things I will change about how I teach the subject but I am excited to grow from what I've learned about teaching ceramics. I think this was such an amazing experience for the students. It is an experience not many elementary students get to experience. I believe the more different and unique experiences students are able to have, the more things they are able to try, the more well rounded are students become and the more they will discover about themselves. With gratitude, Ms. Emily" Known need alert: Ms. Joffre at Scott Lane wants to take her K/1 combo class to Osborn Nature Center. If we can find the money, we'll fund the field trip! This is what we do when you donate to SCSF -- we find out about things teachers need and provide them!
The Family Resource Center (FRC) needs about 100 backpacks to meet the needs of our community through the end of the school year. The FRC helps out families in need, including newcomers and refugees. They need some now, but based on past experience, they'll need around 100 through June.
Ms. Jennifer at Laurelwood Elementary knows that STEM is the future. She needed materials and kits, and thanks to our generous donors, we helped her out. Here's what she said:
"Dear Santa Clara Schools Foundation, The students are so very thankful for the Stem materials that were donated to our classroom! As soon as they saw them on our shelves they immediately wanted to begin building with them. With the donated items, the students have been able to build and create wheels, axles, inclined planes, gears and worm drives. Not only have they been able to put together many different models but they have also been able to work on their team building skills, communication, planning, problem solving skills and were also able to work cooperatively working towards a common goal to complete their model. Overall, the students love the new addition of materials in our classroom and have not stopped taking apart the pieces, creating new stem mechanical models. Thank you all for your donations and providing these materials to enrich our classroom environment. With gratitude, Ms. Jennifer" Known need alert: a 1st grade class at Scott Lane Elementary is seeking funding to get to the Osborn Nature Center. If we can find the funds, we'll fund it. When you support SCSF, this is the kind of thing we do with your donations -- thank you for your generosity!
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