My students are in tenth and eleventh grades and have a passion for the arts. Our school gives students the opportunity to spend half of their day in one of the following majors: Theatre, Dance, Visual Arts, Literary Arts, Figure Skating, Instrumental Music, and Vocal. The other half of their day is in academic classes, including my English class.
We are a public charter school, and auditions to our school are academically blind - students are accepted solely based on artistic audition, and as such, we have students of all academic levels, just like a traditional public school.
Our students are passionate about their arts and this passion transfers to their academic classes. We are ranked as the #1 best high school for the Arts in the state of Pennsylvania (niche.com), and are ranked as the top performer in our region on the state English assessment and have received the designations as a Title I Reward School: High Achievement three out of the past four years. We were also recently named a 2018 National Blue Ribbon School!
My Project
Our school does not have a library or a librarian, so we rely on donations of books in order to provide a selection for our students. Recently, the 10th grade English teachers took on an initiative to promote independent reading in our classrooms. My students spend 10-15 minutes most class periods reading a book of their choice, and then share what they are reading, both informally and formally, helping each other choose what to read next.
And, since we started this focus on independent reading, so many students have told us that they have found their love of reading again - something they never thought they would get back!
In fact, we have a waiting list for several of these titles, because, as students read them, they recommend them to their classmates. The books in this project come from both student requests and recommendations.
Your donation will help to facilitate a culture of readers in our classroom that wouldn't exist without these books!
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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. Bruck and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
