Our school is a Title I school located in Malden, Massachusetts, about thirty minutes outside of Boston. We have a diverse group of students that come from many different socioeconomic statuses and cultural backgrounds. Our school is 17.7% African American; 8.8% Asian; 25.6% Hispanic; 42.8% White; 0.2% Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander; and 4.9% Multi-Race, Non-Hispanic. Additionally, 34% of our students have a first language other than English, 11% are English Language Learners, 25% are students with disabilities, 58.3% are high needs students, and 39.1% are economically disadvantaged. What this creates is an amazing group of open minded kids.
Many of our students have never traveled out of state, some not even out of Malden or the surrounding areas.
Few have gotten to truly be immersed in nature and disconnected from technology. In Malden, they can’t have the experiences they will get at Nature’s Classroom. Additionally, most have never spent time away from family overnight, so this will be an incredible opportunity for these students to grow and gain independence as they become young adults. We want to ensure that all students have the chance to attend your donation has the ability to make that happen.
My Project
This year, our sixth graders have an incredible opportunity to participate in in Nature’s Classroom in Andover, Connecticut for three days and two nights. The three big goals of Nature’s Classroom are 1) exploration and discovery, 2) experiential living, and 3) team and community building. With these goals in mind, the program allows students to have hands-on experiences in nature and with topics that expand on our curriculum in an entirely new and unique way. They also have to learn to work together in a new environment and problem-solve unfamiliar situations.
Groups will have a chance to explore a new environment, and time to participate in specialty classes, allowing them to explore topics of interest outside of the typical classroom environment.
Students can explore anything from dissection to woodland music and everything in between.
Additionally, the specialty classes offered at Nature’s Classroom align with the Next Generation Science Standards. For instance, the course “Scat,” which students enjoyed last year, addresses standard MS-LS1-7: Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism. As another example, the course “Never Cry Wolf” addresses standard MS-LS1-4: Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
By raising this money it will allow each one of our students to opportunity to attend no matter what their no matter what their financial needs are, you will be giving our students and amazing adventure that they might otherwise never experience
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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. Pitino and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
