My students are a diverse group of bright young scholars from all over the NYC area, most of whom are first- and second-generation Americans, attending a competitive Title I school in Brooklyn, NY. Our school uses the International Baccalaureate's diploma program as a way to develop students' abilities across disciplines at a very high level and foster well-rounded individuals. We are an "IB For All" school which means that we fully cover the cost of the IB program - usually only available to private school students or a select group in public schools - so that all our students can achieve college readiness. My students often balance rigorous academics with a lot of responsibilities at home supporting their families all while maintaining a positive attitude and desire to learn.
My Project
Year after year, we see students who sign up for advanced science classes in our school while our budget for lab equipment shrinks. Our school had a founding grant to build out our science lab but after over a decade, much of our equipment through hard use and time have started to decay. Two essential pieces of equipment for any aspiring chemists are precise digital scales and pH probes. While we have replaced our digital scales with low quality food scale, when performing advanced labs such as measuring the rates of chemical reactions, my IB Chemistry students simply can not detect small changes in mass with those scales that only read (inaccurately) to the tenths place. In addition, our pH probes have been revived many times but are slowly dying and we are in need of a replacement set.
I am asking this year as a birthday present as I reach the milestone of turning 40 not to give me any gifts but to think instead of my students who could greatly benefit from this lab equipment.
Any donation - big or small - to this ambitious project goes a long way.
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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. Capasso and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.