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This teacher needs your help!

Mrs. Wheeless from Newport News, VA is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

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Fully Funded

Mrs. Wheeless's classroom raised $332

Engaging Modern Books for Second Graders

My students need fiction and nonfiction stories from respected and loved authors, including Who Would Win?, Time For Kids, The Princess in Black, and Whale Vs. Giant Squid to build their love of reading and encourage them as writers.

Classroom photo
Mrs. Wheeless profile photo
Mrs. Wheeless Willis A Jenkins Elementary School
Newport News, VA Grades PreK-2

My Students

I teach in Newport News, VA in a small school with around 350 students. My school consists of a very transient population and is very low-income, with more than 70% of students qualifying for free and reduced price lunch. My second grade classroom is full of 20 to 25 students between 7 and 8 years old throughout the school year.

With all of these factors come lots of ebergy and movement!

But also a lot of heart!

But...my classroom library is full of outdated books. There are so many new and engaging books out there that my students would love to have instead!

My Project

I teach at a low income school built in the 1970s in Newport News, VA. I am also a third year teacher. When I moved into my classroom it was already equipped with 80-100 books. Although, those books were printed between the 1960s-1990s.

My students are second graders, born in the last 7-8 years, and they have a hard time relating to most of these books.

In a recent professional development opportunity I attended, I was introduced to some recent authors and series that I know my students would love. So many of the books I grew up with and loved, like Junie B. Jones and the Boxcar Children, are not as accessible to students today. Especially not my young African American girls and boys from single family homes. Many of the books in my classroom library are also geared towards girls and are not engaging for the boys in my room.

I hope through these fiction and nonfiction books including Who Would Win?, Time For Kids, The Princess in Black, and Whale Vs. Giant Squid, I will be able to reach all of my students, regardless of their background, gender, or interest. To help them to grow as readers and expand their ideas as writers. Your support can make all of this happen in my reading centered classroom!

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Nearly all students from low‑income households

25 students impacted 5 donors
Mrs. Wheeless Willis A Jenkins Elementary School Grades PreK-2

Celebrate Black teachers and kids! This project supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of students are Black.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Newport News, VA View local requests

Nearly all 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

25 students impacted 5donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Creature Features: Twenty-Five Animals Explain Why They Look the Way They Do • Amazon Business $14.76 1 $14.76
I am Martin Luther King, Jr. (Ordinary People Change the World) • Amazon Business $10.12 1 $10.12
I am Jackie Robinson (Ordinary People Change the World) • Amazon Business $9.49 1 $9.49
National Geographic Kids Everything Weather: Facts, Photos, and Fun that Will Blow You Away • Amazon Business $9.35 1 $9.35
Monsters on the Run (The Yeti Files #2) • Amazon Business $8.99 1 $8.99
The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde • Amazon Business $8.92 1 $8.92
The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party • Amazon Business $8.92 1 $8.92
Prehistoric Actual Size • Amazon Business $8.83 1 $8.83
I am Helen Keller (Ordinary People Change the World) • Amazon Business $8.59 1 $8.59
Actual Size • Amazon Business $6.41 1 $6.41
Meet the Bigfeet (The Yeti Files #1) • Amazon Business $6.34 1 $6.34
Attack of the Kraken (Yeti Files) • Amazon Business $6.30 1 $6.30
Nikki and Deja: Election Madness (Nikki & Deja) • Amazon Business $5.99 1 $5.99
Nikki and Deja: Birthday Blues • Amazon Business $5.99 1 $5.99
Nikki and Deja • Amazon Business $5.33 1 $5.33
Who Was George Washington Carver? • Amazon Business $4.57 1 $4.57
Who Was Abraham Lincoln? • Amazon Business $4.48 1 $4.48
Keena Ford and the Field Trip Mix-Up • Amazon Business $4.44 1 $4.44
The Talent Show from the Black Lagoon (Black Lagoon Adventures, No. 2) • Amazon Business $4.39 1 $4.39
Keena Ford and the Secret Journal Mix-Up • Amazon Business $4.37 1 $4.37
Who Was Rosa Parks? • Amazon Business $4.36 1 $4.36
Who Was Helen Keller? • Amazon Business $4.20 1 $4.20
The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party • Amazon Business $4.16 1 $4.16
The Princess in Black • Amazon Business $4.16 1 $4.16
Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up • Amazon Business $4.16 1 $4.16
Who Was George Washington? • Amazon Business $4.09 1 $4.09
Time For Kids: Plants! (Time for Kids Science Scoops) • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
The Teacher from the Black Lagoon • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
What If You Had Animal Teeth? • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
What If You Had Animal Hair? • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
Time For Kids: Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Pioneer (Time for Kids Biographies) • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
National Geographic Readers: Weather • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
Time For Kids: Storms! (Time for Kids Science Scoops) • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
The Class Pet from the Black Lagoon • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
The Principal from the Black Lagoon • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
What If You Had Animal Ears? • Amazon Business $3.87 1 $3.87
What If You Had Animal Feet? • Amazon Business $3.52 1 $3.52
National Geographic Readers: Storms! • Amazon Business $3.46 1 $3.46
Who Was Sacagawea? • Amazon Business $3.38 1 $3.38
Hammerhead vs. Bull Shark (Who Would Win?) • Amazon Business $3.37 1 $3.37
Whale vs. Giant Squid (Who Would Win?) • Amazon Business $3.33 1 $3.33
Who Would Win? Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Velociraptor • Amazon Business $3.11 1 $3.11
Who Would Win? Lion vs. Tiger • Amazon Business $3.11 1 $3.11
Rise of the Earth Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters #1) • Amazon Business $2.97 1 $2.97
Secret of the Water Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters #3) • Amazon Business $2.97 1 $2.97
Saving the Sun Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters #2) • Amazon Business $2.97 1 $2.97
Time For Kids: Jackie Robinson: Strong Inside and Out (Time for Kids Biographies) • Amazon Business $2.75 1 $2.75
Tarantula vs. Scorpion (Who Would Win?) • Amazon Business $2.00 1 $2.00

Materials cost

$248.43

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$3.73

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$282.16

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$49.79

Total project goal

$331.95

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $331.95

5 Donors

-$331.95

Donations toward project cost

-$282.16

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$49.79

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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Project Activity

Project Activity
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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. Wheeless and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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