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Mr. Hanavan's Classroom

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Support Mr. Hanavan's classroom with a gift that fosters learning.

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We'll charge your card today and send Mr. Hanavan a DonorsChoose gift card he can use on his classroom projects. Starting next month, we'll charge your card and send him a DonorsChoose gift card on the 17th of every month.

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Make a donation Mr. Hanavan can use on his next classroom project.

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Past projects 5

  • Looking Sharp While Getting it Done.

    Funded Oct 14, 2024

    THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! These aprons are sorely needed and arrive right at the moment of greatest impact. We are immensely grateful for your kindness. Please understand that keeping our studio and our artists clean and tidy is a key strategy for improving student behavior and responsibility towards others. Thanks again.”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hanavan

  • Getting a Better Grip on Ceramic Trimming.

    Funded Nov 28, 2023

    I apologize for the delay in response, but adding a third trimming wheel has greatly increased our productivity, and we are so busy! I haven't had a spare moment. Now we are starting to slow down as we approach the end of the year, and allow me please to thank you so much for this generous and helpful gift.

    Easily, our productivity has been improved by 50%, since trimming requires a wheel to get the job done well, and the ease of this device, the Griffin Grip, is so simple and fast that it makes it so we can get it done more quickly, have more students finish their pieces and take time being careful about it since they don't feel so rushed to get off the wheel, and we can free the wheels up in an expeditious fashion so we can throw more! All of that is just huge in making our studio work.

    you.”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hanavan

    This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and one other donor.
  • We Just Can't Put This on the Shelf!

    Funded Feb 15, 2024

    What a difference it has made having these new shelves! The old ones, one had broken, and the other was about to, so we needed these in order to use the kiln to its fullest capacity. Now we can! They are solid, reliable, and well-constructed, and that's good for us as a middle school ceramic studio, where our tools take a pretty strong hit on use.

    We are so grateful for your generosity, bless you for your kindness and regard for us, and making the promotion of the arts, especially the tactile, 3D arts, an ongoing opportunity for our students.”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hanavan

  • BANDING Together To Do More.

    Funded Nov 21, 2022

    What a new world our ceramicists inhabit now! The ability to apply glaze, detailed trimming and novel approaches to hand-building has brought our studio efforts to stratospheric heights. We are able to utilize the uniform motion of the banding wheel to strategize glazing designs in uniform patterns, making them much more professional and appealing. Trimming leatherware is so much easier and we can work through more students doing fine detail cleanup that doesn't really require the big wheels. Some students have pushed the envelope to try actual "throwing" techniques on the small platform, and they have been novel and exciting to pursue, if not always "successful."

    It is grand to have these banding wheels as a further adjunct to our work with ceramic design and implementation. All three studios - the Topher, Nancy's Probiotic Non-fat Yogurt and the Ceramicans extend their profuse gratitude to you for your gracious and generous gift. Thank you.”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hanavan

  • Keeping the Wheel of Learning Turning

    Funded Nov 15, 2021

    21 March, 2022,

    Hi YOUNG SHELDON and Donors Choose!

    First, I apologize for the late submission. We are working hard in my Core and Art classes to provide support relief for Ukraine and Afghanistan, and this has taken up much of my time and energy.

    Here is an update on the rapidly advancing ceramics program at Gale Ranch Middle School in San Ramon, CA. Since the arrival of the glorious Shimpo VL Whisper wheel, we have been able to increase student participation on this rather advanced form of pottery making by more than 50%, since I can now work with 3 students at a time on the wheels and also use the "big" wheel (the one you provided us) to do spot-modeling of the stages of ceramic formation to more effectively demonstrate what it should look like and how it would proceed.

    I can also leave the big wheel open to do direct modeling with two students, allowing for more refined techniques and approaches to what is a very complex and nuanced artform. Having a student on either side of me and being on a larger platform is tremendously helpful in walking through ceramic movements that are fairly small and delicate, that they can then practice while sitting right beside them. This works great! I am so pleased with the speed and increased progress that can manifest from this situation. Ceramics requires practice with guidance, and the big wheel is such an adjunct to demonstrate on the spot, as it happens.

    I will provide more progress reports as I continue to finesse the ways in which I apply the big wheel, but know that this is a boon to improving our art program well beyond my expectations, and broadening the world of students in a real, tactile way that surpasses the cell phone mentality so pervasive thesed days. Thank you so much for your kindness.

    With warm regards,

    John Daniel Hanavan

    8th grade Core, Art 1 and 6th grade wheel, Gale Ranch MS, San Ramon, CA.”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hanavan

    This classroom project was brought to life by Young Sheldon on CBS and one other donor.
In a disused garden space at our school, we will re-invigorate, plant and cultivate California native plants to provide sustenance for native and migratory species as pollinator sources and to grow native crops for harvesting and use as exemplars of how native and settler populations used these plants, especially the "Big Three:" maize, beans and squash. Through the student experience of developing the garden space and selecting, organizing and cultivating native species, they will be able to better recognize the importance and enjoyment of engaging in our natural environment. The use of the iPads (with protective cases) will be invaluable as field resources, as the cameras and visual tech combined with identification and field guide applications will be on-site aids to the production of knowledge. This will also be a tremendous boon to the school, as this garden, which has had dedicated attention in the past but currently is neglected and in disrepair. As a long-time gardener, interested in building spaces which support native species, this project strikes close to my heart. I am becoming well established in the school, and the opportunity to rebuild this resource and use it as a bridge to furthering student knowledge and experience, as supported by the technology you will kindly supply, speaks to the intent we all share to make a better, more caring world.

About my class

In a disused garden space at our school, we will re-invigorate, plant and cultivate California native plants to provide sustenance for native and migratory species as pollinator sources and to grow native crops for harvesting and use as exemplars of how native and settler populations used these plants, especially the "Big Three:" maize, beans and squash. Through the student experience of developing the garden space and selecting, organizing and cultivating native species, they will be able to better recognize the importance and enjoyment of engaging in our natural environment. The use of the iPads (with protective cases) will be invaluable as field resources, as the cameras and visual tech combined with identification and field guide applications will be on-site aids to the production of knowledge. This will also be a tremendous boon to the school, as this garden, which has had dedicated attention in the past but currently is neglected and in disrepair. As a long-time gardener, interested in building spaces which support native species, this project strikes close to my heart. I am becoming well established in the school, and the opportunity to rebuild this resource and use it as a bridge to furthering student knowledge and experience, as supported by the technology you will kindly supply, speaks to the intent we all share to make a better, more caring world.

About my class

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