My students attend classes in a low-income community with under-resourced classrooms. Over 70% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
In our High School World History and African American History courses, we journey from Africa to Russia, from the Middle East to the East Coast of the United States, examining our own historical past as well as those of other cultures, all the time making connections and drawing parallels between these events and our own lives. I am attempting to motivate my students to become social critics and develop inquiring minds, but I need your help in delivering the world to them in a way that can grab their attention, and do justice to the vast amounts of material that exist out there which they have yet to be exposed to.
I want students to be able to hear a Fireside chat, I want them to watch protests in Tiananmen Square, examine the cultural uniqueness of the Middle East, and I want them to explore detailed maps that can visually connect and situate these places within their spatial contexts. It can be difficult to situate world events within their historical contexts. During our Civil War unit, several students asked why Southern soldiers did not simply drive away from the battlefields when they suffered great casualties. It is difficult to explain the Civil War’s setting, but showing a vivid re-enactment through scenes from the movie Glory could adequately communicate to students the life and times in which the Civil War took place; illustrating the setting through costumes, language, and social dynamics rather than simply through words in a textbook.
An LCD projector would allow my students to experience the world while simultaneously exposing them to advanced technology. Your gift would allow them to watch video clips, explore images from around the world, engage with interactive history material on educational websites, and help in their development as world thinkers and decision-makers.
These are bright students who, because of where they live, do not have easy access to the outside world. I need your help to bring the world into our classroom.
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