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This teacher needs your help!

Mrs. Swafford from Lake Wales, FL is requesting other through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

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Fully Funded

Mrs. Swafford's classroom raised $443

News in the Making: Puppets Going Beyond the Lunch Menu

My students need puppets to diversify our student news program and help camera-shy students express themselves.

Classroom photo
Mrs. Swafford Spook Hill Elementary School
Lake Wales, FL Grades 3-5

My Students

Which would you rather watch: a nervous classmate talking about the everglades, or an alligator puppet describing his hometown? Which report would you rather GIVE? Our daily news show needs a little spice--and a lot more fun!

We have an amazing group of enthusiastic kids who just need a little nudge to aim their creativity in a productive direction.

Being the only public school in what's considered a high-risk area, we work hard to build in our students positive character traits and skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. Having grades K-5 is a great opportunity: we have the chance to show them at a young age that learning can be enjoyable.

My Project

Every morning, our video production club produces a news show that plays to the entire school. The students put forth a lot of effort to write interesting and informative reports--but the majority of the show is still the necessary day-to-day grind: the date, the lunch menu, tomorrow's lunch menu, morning announcements, etc. Just thinking about hearing this same information every single morning can make your eyes glaze over--just like our K-5 audience. To try to make things more interesting, we had the idea to have a chef puppet introduce the lunch menu. He was a hit! Our boring lunch menu became a favorite--not to mention a fun activity in the video club. Every student wanted a turn being "Chef," even the camera-shy editors. We're asking Donors Choose for a variety of puppets to be used for our news show. Just discussing it sparks the students' imaginations: A policeman puppet can discuss safety. How about a cook-off between chef and a lunch lady? What about a principal puppet?

Outside of school, our high-risk students don't have many opportunities to express themselves.

Here is a chance for them to couple creativity with the valuable skills of summarizing, drafting, and reporting. Not only will the video production club benefit, but our audience--the entire school--will be impacted by seeing the amazing work their classmates can produce--which may in turn inspire them.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Nearly all students from low‑income households

500 students impacted 1 donor
Mrs. Swafford Spook Hill Elementary School Grades 3-5

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Lake Wales, FL View local requests

Nearly all students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

500 students impacted 1donor

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
TT740X - Let’s Talk! Community Helpers Puppets - Complete Set • Lakeshore Learning $99.50 1 $99.50
Melissa & Doug People Puppets Construction Worker • Quill $15.29 1 $15.29
Melissa & Doug People Puppets Cheerleader • Quill $15.29 1 $15.29
Kaplan Kids Puppets - Set of 7 • Kaplan Early Learning Company $85.96 1 $85.96
Bigmouth Animal Puppets • Kaplan Early Learning Company $77.36 1 $77.36
Farm Puppets (Set of 8) • Kaplan Early Learning Company $42.96 1 $42.96

Materials cost

$336.36

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$5.05

Fulfillment labor & materials

$35.00

Total project cost

$376.41

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$66.43

Total project goal

$442.84

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $442.84

1 Donor

-$442.84

Donations toward project cost

-$376.41

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$66.43

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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Project Activity

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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. Swafford and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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