Reclaiming The Future with Projection

Dear Prospective Donor, School should not be boring! Let me begin by giving you a brief background of my school and my classroom. I teach English 10, English 11, English 12 and Student Publications (newspaper and yearbook) during the school day. I also teach credit recovery English after school on Mondays and Tuesday as well as on Saturday mornings. Additionally, I help organize and implement our after school program, which includes general tutoring, GQE tutoring and SAT preparation as well as Girls Club, Sports Club and College and Career Club. As an Alternative School, our students are often made to feel like they belong on the “bottom of the totem pole.” Our current building lacks air conditioning, we get relocated about every two years and we are often last in line for district initiatives including technology, sports or special programs. Though we, as a school, are often forgotten, we have many staff members here who are dedicated to our student’s success. My school focuses on getting students back on track to graduate. Last year, the school counselor and I began a program called "Reclaiming the Future" which provides students with the opportunity to accelerate their high school career, allowing them to get back on track for graduation. We also focus on college and post-high school options. Learning should be a challenging and fun process, however, no matter what school a student attends. Unfortunately, in a building with no air conditioning and next to no functioning equipment, learning is often a laborious task for our students. For the last two years, I have successfully integrated a SmartBoard, with an LCD Projector, into my classroom. With the SmartBoard, students could actively participate in the lesson. They found the SmartBoard motivational in that it offered a range of options such as PowerPoints, interactive games, student presentations, on-line instruction and more! Unfortunately, the SmartBoard is still working, but I no longer have access to an LCD projector, so the SmartBoard is useless. Already, the students that I have had before are in an outrage, wondering where my "special board" is. In a world where technology dominates, our students deserve access to the most exciting and new equipment available. How can students be successful in a college environment that is driven by technology if they've never been given a chance to experience it before? With your donation, I can continue to use the SmartBoard along with the projector in my classroom in the following ways: •Students will create their own projects, such as PowerPoints or personal websites and then share them with their class. •Students will master presentation skills they will be expected to use in college. (Currently, I worry most about my seniors’ readiness levels.) •I will incorporate colorful graphics into my instruction that will enhance learning and help students stay interested and focused. •I will use the SmartBoard print outs, which save all the work students do in class for students who are absent. •I will also use the projector to project internet sites. This enables me to use interactive sites with the students such as the CollegeBoard SAT preparation site. •The school counselor and I will display and use interactive College Search sites in our after school College and Career Club to help students explore their different college and career options. •I will use it to enhance my credit recovery courses after school and on Saturdays. You're help will ensure that my students are getting the educational experience they deserve. With an LCD Projector, I am a better teacher and my classroom is better managed. My students enjoy the creative freedom a projector allows and greatly miss having this technology available to them. With your help, I can make learning a more enjoyable process for both myself and my students. I can also better help prepare my students for the educational challenges they face back at their boundary schools as well as in college. Your help in achieving this goal will forever impact the lives of my students as well as myself. Thank you.