My students need three days of room and board with the included activities from the campsite.
$8,051 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
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.
Out of the 65 students who took the AP Calculus exam once we started offering it back in 2007 and 2008, ONE person had passed. That meant we were averaging a 1.5% passing rate. Last year, in 2009, we had 60% of our students pass this same exam!!
What made the difference? Calculus Camp!
This year's group of students are the same student population as the last few years.
About 90% Latino and from a high need community, both academically and socioeconomically. Many of them will actually be the first to attend college in their families as well.
However, unlike the '07/'08 scores show, they are very bright kids. They are simply not used to the academic rigor of a college level test, despite the many A's they receive at this high school. When they attend college, they will no longer be competing with just their peers from their school though, but with peers from the nation. Practicing the rigor of this national test will help prepare them to face such challenges in college.
My Project
Up at camp, there will be about 15 hours dedicated to calculus. Most of this time will be spent on practicing specifically for the free response portion of the test, something we did not have time for during the school year. We will be playing calculus games and having other competitions in between as well.
When we are not doing math, however, there will also be other activities such as campfires, high ropes, team building, even watching planets through telescopes. Most of these students will never have had such experiences before this.
Last year, when I set up this camp I mostly wanted them to practice the format of the test. But through all the other activities, I was surprised at what else I realized they were practicing- higher expectations for themselves and for their peers. Working hard and yet enjoying themselves in between really united them together and they came back down not only nationally competitive, but more motivated than ever before to pass this test!
However, with all the budget cuts this year, it has been extremely difficult in getting funding for this trip.
Without help, most of my students will not be able to afford this incredible opportunity.
With your help, I really do believe that this class has what it takes to soar even beyond what we have achieved last year. Don't let their backgrounds and the school in which they attend prevent them from sharing in this experience to see what's in store for them in college!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Hwang and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.