"I'm going to do that!" ringing out in a voice full of excitement and inspiration always brings a smile to my face. We look at pictures and watch videos of what students have previously done to let students imagine what they can create themselves.
We are a small, rural school with very few good paying jobs, but an abundance of kind, good-hearted, hard working students much accustomed to poverty.
Our students are upbeat and positive, respectful with a great deal of pride in their school. They are deserving and appreciative. They are our future. They are the reason every year, for the past 20 years, I say, "This is why I teach."
My Project
We have made piñatas in my Spanish class for over a decade. Each year the students build on the experiences and examples of what they have seen previous students do. We went from making ugly, misshapen balls, to beautiful piñatas of all shapes and sizes: footballs, basketballs, hot air balloons, pigs, bats, pumpkins, pineapples, teapots, ghosts, Pac Man ghosts, elephants, giraffes, lions, bears, pandas, pizza slices, Olaf, Sid from Ice Age, Shrek, Mike Wazowski and even a Mr. and Mrs. John Cena.
Our school hasn't had an art class for close to a decade.
Previously when we did have art, it would be for a semester or one year, and then not again for years. This is the closest our students have to doing any art project. Many students take my class just to make a piñata. They see what previous students have done and are inspired to create something of their own.
The most frustrating part of making the piñatas is always cutting the streamers. We never have enough scissors, and the scissors we have don't cut well. The students have to wait to use the few good scissors we have. We need good quality scissors that will cut through multiple layers of streamers to put on the piñatas.
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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 Mrs. Haymond and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.