This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Stiel Obstfeld from New York, NY is requesting technology through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

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Fully Funded

Ms. Stiel Obstfeld's classroom raised $337

Sound Of Music

My students need a USB turntable.

Ms. Stiel Obstfeld Paula Hedbavny School

New York, NY Grades PreK-2

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

With half-inch-diameter earphones hidden in her ears, long cascading curls covering the thin white wires descending down the sides of her face and neck, and an i-pod so thin and compact that I could not see it in her palm, it would have been impossible for me to detect that my eighth grade student was listening to a portable music device, had she not been (obliviously) playing the music at the highest possible volume. This young woman, and so many of her mp3 player-toting contemporaries, are accustomed to the portability and accessibility of their favorite tunes. With each year that I spend in the classrooms, portable music devices become narrower, shorter, and thinner, while their digital memories grow larger. My kindergarten-8th grade music students grow more accustomed to having easy access to music, and have less understanding of the novelty of this accessibility. My students are familiar with the world of CD’s. They know how CD’s work and use them to burn music when necessary, but rarely buy music in CD form. They would likely scoff at the idea of the “portability” of the short-lived discman. Children stare at cassette tapes blankly, wondering why it takes so long to find the right song. They marvel at the sight of seemingly giant CD’s that spin on a vinyl record player. As a music teacher, it is my responsibility to utilize students’ existing musical knowledge to help them better understand music history. A USB ready turntable will help me do so. Allowing students to listen to music using both modern and seemingly outdated technology will allow students to connect with the past. My students will develop a better understanding of the history of recorded sound and how that impacted music history in general. Hearing music from a cassette, record, CD, or MP3 allows students to appreciate the beauty of each method of recorded sound, to see the innovation of each method, and to further appreciate the technology available today. Listening to music of all genres plays a big role in all of my general music, band, chorus, and orchestra classes. Currently students listen to CD’s and cassettes through a boom box. They can hear MP3s played through small speakers attached to my computer. I do not currently have a record player in my classroom. Students have seen records, but can not yet fully comprehend this form of recorded music. I would love for my students to experience quality sound from all modes of recorded music. Children should be able to experience each one individually and to compare and contrast the quality and advantages of different methods. During the past few decades, as cassettes,then CD’s and then MP3’s became preferred methods for recording and listening to music, records have lost popularity and have begun to fill landfills and thrift shops. Recently, I received a gift of old records from an acquaintance who retired after many years of teaching music. Having a turntable in my classroom will enable me to salvage these works of art so my students can appreciate them. With this addition to the music room I can save records and bring them back into use; I can also easily convert them to Cd's for better preservation of the music they carry. As a small school, under 500 students in a K-8 school, we have always had a small arts budget. We were fortunate to receive generous grants of instruments and music stands from Donors Choose donors three years ago to begin our school band. Our band continued to grow through instrument grants from VH1 Save the Music, Music and the Brain, and Little Kids Rock. Having an instrument instruction program in our high poverty school has greatly benefited many of our students who would otherwise not have the opportunity to learn an instrument. Having these programs (though initiated for free) does take a toll on our arts budget. Much of our arts-designated money is allocated for instrument maintenance and repair. The remainder of our money is stretched to cover arts residency programs, in-school performances, and supplies. An unfortunately and increasingly common trend in schools across our country these days, budget cuts have severely depleted our already low arts budgets. Our budget for the 2007-2008 school year was cut in half in the middle of the last school year, leaving instruments in need of repair and fewer art supplies in our closets for this year. For the current school year, we were forced to look to outside funding sources to support our band, orchestra, and dance programs. We have had to search for out-of-school funding to pay for residency programs and visiting arts-related assemblies that students grew accustomed to during the past four years that I’ve been teaching here. We are once again the fortunate recipients of generous grants from individuals and organizations to help foot the bill for some of these arts repairs and programs. We are also in need of outside funding for arts materials. Please help our students expand the boundaries of their musical experiences beyond their inner ears and the palms of their hands. Help us give them a broader understanding of recorded music. Thank you!

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

More than half of students from low‑income households

400 students impacted 13 donors

Project tagged as

New York, NY
Grades PreK-2
Music
Performing Arts
Music
Technology
More than half of students from low‑income households

Ms. Stiel Obstfeld Paula Hedbavny School Grades PreK-2

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

New York, NY View local requests

More than half of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

400 students impacted 13donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes

Materials Cost Quantity Total

AUDIO TECHNICA USB TURNTABLE • Best Buy $229.99 1 $229.99

Materials cost			$229.99
Vendor shipping charges			$23.00
Sales tax			$0.00
3rd party payment processing fee			$5.75
Fulfillment labor & materials			$17.00
Total project cost			$276.00
Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms			$60.59
Total project goal			$336.59
How we calculate what's needed
Total project goal			$336.59
8 Donors			-$324.71
Donations toward project cost			-$276.00
Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms			-$48.71
Excluded support for DonorsChoose			-$11.88
Still needed View calculation Hide calculation			$0.00

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Project Activity

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This teacher needs your help!

Sound Of Music

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

Project tagged as

Boost your odds

Top rated for efficiency and transparency.

TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes

How we calculate what's needed

Project Activity

Project Activity

DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

Help teachers & students in your hometown this season!
Use code HOME at checkout and your donation will be matched up to $100.