Little Scientists and Big Readers!

My Students

"Your choice. Your action. Your life. You're in charge of yourself. Be responsible for you." I teach this mantra to my students. Unfortunately, I have they are unable to make the choice to engage in science activities and experiments in our classroom because we have very few science materials.

My students in my class represent diverse backgrounds, cultures and races, but one thing that is quite common amongst the students in my urban Italian Immersion classroom is that my students often experience in poverty - our school has a student population which is over 80% free and reduced lunch.

It is amazing to work in an incredibly diverse classroom, a community of students who speak a number of languages (English, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, Armenian and Greek) and represent a number of different cultures. Above all, it is incredible to watch my students absorb the Italian language, the target language in which we teach the majority of subjects (Math, Science, Social Studies, Health, Etc...). As a new teacher in a financially strapped urban district, it's difficult to provide students with the materials that they need and deserve. I have been blessed to have the support of family and friends whom have helped support our classroom through past projects, but we still need help!

My Project

I am hoping to provide my students with hand-on scientific materials that will help them see and understand earth science, such as cycles on earth and space, how plants and animals interact and explore concepts such as matter. In addition, we have requested numerous age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction books to help fill our classroom library. We have asked for books about ancient Italy, Martin Luther King Jr., Math exploration, Poetry, Jazz music, animal life cycles and natural cycles on the earth.

My students are deserve the best education possible, but due to immense cuts to education throughout the state, they have been left with out resources & specials (such as art, computer class, a scheduled library time and music).

Although I love my job - particularly watching young students learn a foreign language while being taught their regular class subjects - we are all stressed this year & without all necessary supplies. Classroom teachers have been asked to do much more with much less.