Sit Around at Recess?! No! How About Some Basketball?
Our school needs two basketball hoops that will mount on a wall and ten basketballs for the school's recently renovated recess yard.
FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Mora's classroom raised $476
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
I am the third grade teacher in the Bronx, New York. It is a small school with seven classrooms from Pre-K through 5th grade. There is only one class per grade with each class having approximately 20 students totaling approximately 130 students in the entire school. We are a very family oriented school and each student is well known by the entire staff. The size and environment of the school provides the opportunity to truly develop and maintain meaningful relationships with each of our students. We are a growing school with new incoming students each year. However, the school will remain small maintaining just one class per grade.
Our school is housed on a larger campus with four high schools. Our school is located on the main floor in former offices. We are permitted to used the high school's gym. However, there is no gym teacher and there are a number of problems involved in taking the children up to the high school gym. Most of the teachers do not provide any sort of athletic exercise or gym time.
We do have a recess yard where the children go when the weather is nice enough to go outside. The recess yard is small but it has two gym sets of bridges and park equipment. The school has purchased some jump ropes, balls and Frisbees for the children to use.
However, recess time is incredibly unproductive. Most of the children run around full speed until they are unable to breathe properly and there are no organized games for them to play. Lunch and recess is the one of the only times during the school day where the children are practicing their social skills and just enjoying themselves. I know my students aren't having fun and getting a chance to relax before returning to the classroom to continue working hard. Recess is their time to regenerate so they can put in the necessary effort for the second half of the school day.
The staff members are trying to improve the issues surrounding recess. This year we implemented a new lunch/recess period enabling us to provide two separate lunch and recess periods, one for the older grades and one for the younger grades. It was a significant problem last year having first graders and fifth graders running around full speed in the same space. Now that there are fewer students, organized games are possible to implement. Some teachers have implemented soccer practice and introducing other sports. This is when it was discovered that most of the children had very little knowledge of sports, the rules and the way in which it's played.
Exercise is so important for these children. Many of them are not permitted out of their homes due to the nature of the neighborhood and therefore do not get much time to run around and play. Last year, a proposal of mine was funded to incorporate yoga into my students curriculum as part of a health/gym class. We have started getting a substitute to teach gym when our technology teacher is out.
With your help, our school could install two basketball hoops in the recess yard and have a supply of ten basketballs which would greatly increase the activity available for our students in several ways. Teachers could take the children to the recess yard as part of a gym class and teach the younger children the rules of basketball and begin teaching them the basics. The older children could learn how to play as a team and defense and offense. The students could use it during recess as well to practice the things that they have learned. They would be able to play with children their own age now that we have separated the grades for lunch and recess.
I greatly appreciate your interest in funding a proposal for public schools. Many public schools are in need of a variety of resources to help our students. With your help, teachers and schools are able to increase the impact on their students each year. Please consider funding my project and providing our small school with the chance of having a purposeful and fun recess. These kids need a time and place where they can just enjoy themselves.
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
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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. Mora and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
