Our students come from very diverse backgrounds including blue collar, white collar, farmers and CEOs. Our community hosts a wide range of experiences and incomes. Located in a township without a post office, our school struggles to make ends meet at times. We aren't Title I, but we could be. We have a very strong community presence in our school, which helps, but constant budget cuts mean less money.
Even with these obstacles, our community is eager to see their children achieve a higher level of academic success than previous generations.
In today's world, being literate in technology is an essential skill. We hope to prepare and enrich our students for such a tech-based world.
My Project
Over the past year, we have been so grateful to DonorsChoose for helping us start a STEM lab. Our students have benefited from the robotics and other tools that were donated through these projects. We want to continue to expand and grow our program so that it can benefit even more of our students.
After evaluating our supplies, we noticed there wasn't much available to our students in the "E" part of STEM, engineering.
We decided this had to change. Engineers use systematic processes, mathematical tools and scientific knowledge to develop, model, analyze and improve solutions to problems, so we found items that will help our students do just that!
The Fort Boards will allow our kids to sketch and design different types of buildings, which they can then bring to life. We will also allow them to test these buildings for durability against earthquakes, wind, and other disaster type situations so they can modify their buildings to better withstand natural disasters. Our Magnatiles will also allow our students to design and build structures, just on a smaller scale. The clay circuit kit will allow the students to add lights and switches to their buildings for more engagement and also to add in electrical engineering skills.
Many scientists and educators agree that STEM learning will help build the critical 21st century skills students need for college and career success. These include group work, problem solving, data collection and analysis, and communication of ideas. Adding the "E" into our STEM lab will not only engage the student's learning while in school, but also prepare them for continuing education and exposing them to many different career options. We hope to lay the best foundation for our children so they can explore all of the options available for a successful future!
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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. Tingen and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.