You're on track to get doubled donations (and unlock a reward for the colleague who referred you). Keep up the great work!
Take credit for your charitable giving! Check out your tax receipts
To use your $50 gift card credits, find a project to fund and we'll automatically apply your credits at checkout. Find a classroom project
Skip to main content

Help teachers & students in your hometown this season!
Use code HOME at checkout and your donation will be matched up to $100.

Your school email address was successfully verified.

Ms. Lysen from Everett WA is requesting supplies through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

Ukulele For Kids: A Hawaiian Delight

My students need 7 ukuleles to learn how to play a simple stringed instrument with which they can accompany their own singing and continue on in music later in their lives.

  • $935 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

My Students

Remember the fun you had in choir and band? The music friends you hung out with after school? Did music provide a reason for you to go to school each day? My students need motivation to stay in school, to experience wholesome activities and friends. For many, music fulfills these vital needs.

Life for my students is often not easy.

Many come from homes where having dinner each night is not a given, and education isn't considered important. Several are homeless or in foster care. Around 70% of them receive free or reduced breakfasts and lunches daily, and those are often their only meals of the day. Many of them struggle in class to learn the skills on which they are being tested in the spring. The work is often frustrating for them, especially with little support available at home. Yet, when they walk into the music room, they can forget those concerns and let music carry them to a different place. Often, the very students who struggle in the classroom find a welcome reprieve in making music. After school, some sing in the choir. But others would prefer to play an instrument. Some cannot stay after school due to transportation or after-school commitments. I would like to offer an ukulele class to 15 students per trimester during their recess break once a week.

My Project

My ultimate goal for the at-risk population at my school is to fulfill basic needs such as friendship, a sense of belonging in a (musical) family, self-esteem and self-respect, a sense of achievement, respect by and for others. I want to motivate them to stay in school until graduation. The avenue in which I choose to accomplish this is through ukuleles, an easy-to-learn instrument that students can also use to accompany themselves while singing. In combining strumming with singing, the student has to do two things at once, which strengthens connections in the brain. I will begin with just 14 students per trimester during their noon recess once per week and expand as interest grows and I acquire more instruments through more grants. Students will learn to play some simple songs with three chords. They will perform for the school talent show, a transitional nursing home, and McTeachers Night (a school fundraising activity). That way, families and the community can be involved.

My students are at a high risk of dropping out of school.

They experience many barriers to completing their education, from lack of family support, to lack of opportunities for discovering and developing a passion, to a lack of motivation to follow through on long-term goals. When there is a void in their lives, it is too easy to join gangs and engage in harmful activities to fulfill their needs. Together, let's provide the opportunity, passion and vision that will help them soar to success!

Ms. Lysen
Grades 3-5

Boost your odds

Add a profile photo in addition to your classroom photo. If you add a photo, it'll show up right here on your project page.

You are more likely to receive funding if you put a face to your name.

Upload a photo

Top rated for efficiency and transparency.

You donate directly to the teacher or project you care about and see where every dollar you give goes.

Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Ms. Lysen is requesting.

See our finances

TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

You can start a project with the same resources being requested here!

Where Your Donation Goes

Materials Cost Quantity Total
Tattoo Concert Mahogany Ukulele • Woodwind and Brasswind $99.00 7 $693.00

Materials cost

$693.00

Vendor shipping charges

FREE

Sales tax

$60.64

3rd party payment processing fee

$10.40

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$794.04

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$140.12

Total project goal

$934.16

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

$934.16

22 Donors

-$822.40

Donations toward project cost

-$700.54

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$121.86

match offer

-$110.00

Match offer toward project cost

-$93.50

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$16.50

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$1.76

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

$0.00

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

View complete list Show less

Support your local school!

Donate directly to any school in the US. Your donation will go towards directly purchasing urgent supplies.

Find a local school

Project Activity

{"pmaHash":"","schoolCity":"Everett","showProjectRecommendations":true,"teachersOnPage":[1849843],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"WA","teacherPossessivePronoun":"her","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":2,"name":"Elementary School"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"proposalId":1026104,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":0,"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/ukulele-for-kids-a-hawaiian-delight/1026104/","verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"mayHaveReplacements":false,"numStudents":42,"teacherScreenName":"Ms. Lysen","isEquityFocus":true,"authorIds":{"1849843":{"owner":"Ms. Lysen","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[1026104],"proposalHash":"238637998","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/136/teacher-placeholder-2_136.png","teacherHasProfilePhoto":false,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":307494,"photosPublished":true,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":null,"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":["MTk1MDIwNg==","MTkzODI2OA==","MTk0OTU0NA==","MTk1MzA5OQ==","MTk1MzEyOA==","MTk1MDgxMg==","MTk0NDc5MA==","MTk1MDQ1Ng==","MTk0ODg1Mw==","MTk1MTk3OQ==","MTk1MDE2MA==","MTk0OTQ2MQ==","MTk1MDc2Mg==","MTk1NDE5OA==","MTk1NDM4NA==","MTQzNzUwNg==","MTk1MjExNw==","MTk0NDY2NQ==","MTk0NDU5NQ==","MTk1MzE2Mg==","MTg5MjQ4OA==","MTk0ODk0NA==","MTk1MjQyOA=="],"teacherId":1849843,"schoolCounty":"Snohomish","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"WA","name":"Washington"}}