My students need therapeutic games, conversation starters, and board games to help them learn coping strategies and social skills.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. D's classroom raised $199
This project is fully funded
My Students
Our K-8 school is a Title 1, high poverty school in Southwest Philadelphia, where 100% of students qualify for free breakfast and lunch. Despite a large percentage of students who struggle with food or housing insecurity, family stressors, and exposure to violence and trauma, our students come to school curious, active, playful, and ready to engage. I want our school to be a safe, stable place for them where they can set aside worries and hardships and enjoy the confidence and pride that comes with learning and growth. Every day scholars and staff put courage, creativity, perseverance, and resilience to work to accomplish big things on a shoestring.
Thank you for helping our students unleash their inner brilliance.
My Project
Many of the students who come through my counseling office are dealing with adult-sized challenges like food and housing insecurity, family separations, foster care involvement, and histories of exposure to trauma, crime, and violence. In young students, this ongoing stress is often expressed through difficult behavior.
The good news is, trauma can be transformed.
Evidence-based therapeutic games like the Talking, Feeling, and Doing game teach children how to get control over their thoughts, feelings, and actions. The "Stop the Drama" thumb-ball will provide us with an engaging way to start conversations about bullying and relational aggression. The game of Life provides a jumping-off point to discuss how different decisions in life lead to different outcomes. Toltika is a jenga-style game that encourages kids to build their sense of confidence, personal strengths, and self-worth. Finally, Connect 4 is a hands-down student favorite. Last year's Connect 4 got so much use that it wore out! My students love to challenge each other to a game-- the simplicity of it means all ages can play independently and students with lower reading skills can still access it. Meanwhile, they are also learning about taking turns, playing fair, and sportsmanship. I've seen even very shy students get drawn in to engage with this crowd-pleaser.
My kids deserve the best resources and opportunities that the world has to offer. If I could fund it all myself, I would! In the meantime, thank you for bringing us that much closer to creating the abundantly resourced school they deserve.
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 Ms. D and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
