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This teacher needs your help!

Mrs. Despain from Santaquin, UT is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

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Fully Funded

Mrs. Despain's classroom raised $1,000

We All Have Big Emotions and Need Help

Help me give my students books, kalimbas, and a place to relax, like in a Big Joe chair or wobble chair where they can learn and use strategies for self-regulation so they can make good choices.

Mrs. Despain profile photo
Mrs. Despain Santaquin Elementary School
Santaquin, UT Grades 3-5

My Students

My students come from many backgrounds facing various challenges including low socioeconomics, homelessness, loss of a parent due to COVID, high anxiety due to uncertainty, immigrants, and English as a second language. The majority of the students I have worked with since COVID-19 began have been directly related to the pandemic.

My school's social-emotional needs have risen dramatically between students being moved to remote learning, then to wearing masks, and now to being able to be in school but having missed over a year's worth of contact with peers without the barrier of a mask.

I have 5th-grade students who socially behave more like 2nd or 3rd graders. I also work with 3rd graders who are still learning how to be in a classroom much like a 1st grader would. I also work with 1st graders who have anxiety so extreme that it is difficult for them to focus and learn. Much of these issues I feel are a direct result of COVID-19. Currently, I have seven students (three families) that have lost a father to COVID and many more that have a close loved one that has passed away. Despite these challenges, they are resilient.

My Project

The items I am requesting will be used in several places throughout the school. Our new wellness room needs bookshelves to hold books. Students will be able to use kalimbas (finger pianos) as a strategy to calm down and shift their focus. Plush toys (Little Spots of Feelings) will be available for students to learn to manipulate and as visual cues to recognize, understand, and self-regulate their emotions.

The counselor’s office will benefit from bean bag chairs as students often need a place to comfortably talk about their challenges.

Wobble chairs and cushions will be used in the counseling office as well as in classrooms as needed for anxiety and ADHD students needing help focusing.

All the books will be available for teachers and the counselor to use for teaching lessons in the classroom as well as in small group and individual counseling. These books will help students struggling socially and emotionally because of the uncertainty COVID-19 has created in their lives; as well as the challenges which are not new to society such as poverty, diversity, and bullying. Through this project, students, the counselor, and teachers will have the additional support needed for students who are struggling in the classroom academically and behaviorally.

More than a third of students from low‑income households

560 students impacted 1 donor
Mrs. Despain Santaquin Elementary School Grades 3-5 Santaquin, UT View local requests

More than a third of 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

560 students impacted 1donor

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Active Kids Chair – Wobble Chair Toddlers, Pre-Schoolers - Age Range 3-7y – Grades K-1-2 - 14" High – Flexible Seating Classroom - Helps ADD/ADHD - Corrects Posture - Blue • Amazon Business $59.99 2 $119.98
Big Joe Milano Plush, Mint • Amazon Business $52.99 2 $105.98
Humble Crew, Natural/White Kids Book Rack Storage Bookshelf with Deep Sleeves, Universal • Amazon Business $33.99 2 $67.98
Newlam Kalimba Thumb Piano 17 Keys, Portable Mbira Finger Piano Gifts for Kids and Adults Beginners • Amazon Business $26.99 2 $53.98
What You Do Matters Boxed Set — Featuring all three New York Times best sellers (What Do You Do With an Idea?, What Do You Do With a Problem?, and What Do You Do With a Chance?) • Amazon Business $28.98 1 $28.98
A Little SPOT of Emotion 8 Plush Toys with Feelings Book Box Set • Amazon Business $25.83 1 $25.83
Mattel Games UNO Emojis Multicolor Basic Pack • Amazon Business $9.18 2 $18.36
When I Grow Up • Amazon Business $17.99 1 $17.99
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day • Amazon Business $17.19 1 $17.19
Meesha Makes Friends (Big Bright Feelings) • Amazon Business $17.16 1 $17.16
Stick And Stone • Amazon Business $15.99 1 $15.99
Taste Your Words • Amazon Business $15.39 1 $15.39
Permission to Feel • Amazon Business $15.29 1 $15.29
The Whatifs • Amazon Business $14.99 1 $14.99
Amazing Grace (Reading Rainbow Books) • Amazon Business $14.29 1 $14.29
Ruby Finds a Worry (Big Bright Feelings) • Amazon Business $14.19 1 $14.19
The OK Book • Amazon Business $13.99 1 $13.99
The Boy with Big, Big Feelings (The Big, Big) • Amazon Business $13.49 1 $13.49
Visiting Feelings • Amazon Business $13.46 1 $13.46
Catching Thoughts • Amazon Business $12.99 1 $12.99
Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed - A Children's Kindness Book • Amazon Business $12.79 1 $12.79
Ravi's Roar (Big Bright Feelings) • Amazon Business $12.39 1 $12.39
Gratitude is My Superpower: A children’s book about Giving Thanks and Practicing Positivity (My Superpower Books) • Amazon Business $11.98 1 $11.98
The Judgmental Flower (Building Relationships) • Amazon Business $10.95 1 $10.95
I Can't Believe You Said That! (BEST ME I Can Be!) • Amazon Business $10.95 1 $10.95
That Rule Doesn't Apply to Me! (Responsible Me!) • Amazon Business $10.95 1 $10.95
Baditude! What to Do When Life Stinks! (Responsible Me!) • Amazon Business $10.95 1 $10.95
What's in it For Me? (Responsible Me!) • Amazon Business $10.95 1 $10.95
Who Will I Be? • Amazon Business $10.57 1 $10.57
Perfectly Norman (Big Bright Feelings) • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
What Shoes Will You Wear? • Amazon Business $9.95 1 $9.95
But It's Just A Game • Amazon Business $9.69 1 $9.69
We Don't Eat Our Classmates (Penelope) • Amazon Business $9.58 1 $9.58
Stand in My Shoes: Kids Learning about Empathy • Amazon Business $9.39 1 $9.39
Pause Power: Learning to Stay Calm When Your Buttons Get Pushed • Amazon Business $9.30 1 $9.30
Interrupting Chicken • Amazon Business $7.99 1 $7.99
What If Everybody Did That? • Amazon Business $6.99 1 $6.99
Even Superheroes Have Bad Days • Amazon Business $4.98 1 $4.98

Materials cost

$807.83

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$12.12

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$849.95

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$149.99

Total project goal

$999.94

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $999.94

1 Donor

-$999.94

Donations toward project cost

-$849.95

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$149.99

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

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

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Project Activity

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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. Despain and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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