My students come from a rural, SW Missouri town where we have a small but growing ethnically diverse population and several of our students come from low socioeconomic backgrounds, many of them are on free or reduced-price lunch; however, they enjoy learning about science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM).
My building is a middle school with about 1200 total students.
My school has implemented Project Lead the Way, which is a nationally known STEM-based program that delivers an activity, problem, project based curriculum.
My Project
The storage cabinets that the students are needing will allow all students to take charge of their learning, make equipment selection easier and faster, as well as allow for a more creative building atmosphere for them. During independent and group production times, they receive a problem and collaborate on ways to build a robotic device that will solve the problem. Currently, my students are using equipment from bins and buckets that are scattered throughout the classroom as well as are working in a variety of locations to access the materials. Making sure equipment is in one central location and organized will help motivate students to work harder and allow for more building time as well allow my special needs students to feel more comfortable in the classroom because students will not be running to and from different locations to find parts.
My students are noticeably more engaged in projects when I am able to provide a central location for materials and equipment.
It is also a more welcoming atmosphere for my students with special needs as the moving from area to area somewhat overwhelms them.
The products that I have selected will help all my students by giving them a central, organized and safe area to make more effective building choices. The cabinets are heavy duty and have plenty of bin storage for equipment. These will be extremely beneficial for students and their learning.
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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. Shumaker and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
