Schoenbar Middle School in Ketchikan, Alaska on DonorsChoose

{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"callToActionDisplayName":"Schoenbar Middle School","outOfStateSupporters":66.7,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":9153579,"projectId":9705963,"letterContent":"The Hobbit is a beautiful entry point for middle school students into the world of Tolkien. In about two weeks my classes will embark on Bilbo's great adventure, using the pristine class set you generously donated. THANK YOU. I will begin by reading the story aloud, then rotate between teacher read-aloud with intermittent class choral reading, small group reading, and independent reading. \r\n\r\nI hope to unveil to students how the book itself is just a tip of the iceberg that is Tolkien's legendarium. With The Hobbit as our grounding text, I hope to take students on a journey to explore the love of literacy in a broader sense, as is wont to happen with any exploration of the author himself!\r\n\r\nI remember reading a biography on J.R.R. Tolkien in the fifth grade, some time after completing The Hobbit. In his life's story I encountered the words \"bibliophile\"--a person who collects or has a great love of books--and \"philology\"--the branch of knowledge dealing with the structure, historical development, and relationships of languages. While I had always enjoyed reading and writing, these words expanded my understanding of what it meant to be a lover of literacy. Here were pointed words to name the LOVE of books, of language. \r\n\r\nNot only that, but poring through Tolkien's work, it became evident that loving words was also a visual art; words could be appreciated aesthetically, as one would appreciate a great painting! Exquisite handwriting and hand-drawn maps, illuminated texts--Tolkien's work was so much more than a story.\r\n\r\nFinally, I was mesmerized by the various languages Tolkien created, seeing how they were both scintillating intellectual feats and, again, aesthically pleasing to the eye. Many seeds were planted in me which would come to fruition over the years, inspired by an ongoing relationship with Tolkien and his works: I learned to write calligraphy using traditional quills (with an emphasis on Tolkien's fonts), have become trilingual (and am still aspiring towards true polyglot status), dabble in far more languages than I shall ever master, and cook my fair share of Recipes From the World of Tolkien in a quest to embrace my inner hobbit.\r\n\r\nWhile I have found a lifetime's worth of joy in Tolkien, I hope to simply plant seeds by including small lessons on text illumination, calligraphy, poetry and maps to complement our reading of The Hobbit. I am so excited to begin the unit!","fullyFundedDate":1760735346791,"projectUrl":"project/class-set-of-the-hobbit/9705963/","projectTitle":"Class Set of The Hobbit!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Yutronich","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9153579_orig.jpg?crop=473,473,x0,y281&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1691044084608","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9153579"},{"teacherId":8548912,"projectId":9650825,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for funding my project to put new action packers in the hands of my students and fellow teachers. Our middle school has been teaching outdoor education units to their 7th and 8th graders for the past 53 years. Our outdoor education unit culminates in a three day camping trip for 7th grade students and a three day survival trip for 8th grade students. Both of these trips require teachers to have a leader essentials pack with all the items necessary for safety and emergency equipment. These supplies are currently now packed in the action packers that you funded. Thank you so much for replacing our outdated and broken coolers. This replacement helps to support the place based learning that we do with our students through our outdoor education unit. \r\n\r\nWhen the boxes which contained the action packers arrived, the students were thrilled to just see the 10 gigantic boxes the action packers came in. (We actually had a fort building and costume day with the boxes.) Now having had a chance to open them up and replace the old coolers, myself and other teacher leaders are even more excited to take our students out on their camping (7th grade) and survival (8th grade) trips. These action packers are a lot more sturdy than the old coolers and allow for all the equipment to be easily stored inside and accessed. There will be no more duck taping the sides shut or having to empty the whole container to find one needed item. \r\n\r\nWe can't thank you enough for your support of this project and for supporting our students here in Ketchikan.","fullyFundedDate":1757542937108,"projectUrl":"project/action-packers-for-survival-trip-support/9650825/","projectTitle":"Action Packers for Survival Trip Support","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Fullerton","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8548912_orig.jpg?crop=1268,1268,x0,y190&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1658900746872","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8548912"},{"teacherId":9153579,"projectId":8962912,"letterContent":"Thank you for continuing to support educators! Sometimes I make a point to get more resources, and other times I adapt based on what I have. But resources make a difference! Receiving multiple sets of Post-It easel paper has made me more inclined to jot down students' ideas, as I would on the whiteboard regardless, but then return to their ideas--genuine questions and comments. Whiteboards must be erased for every new class period, but the Post-Its enable me to show students that I've saved and continued thinking about THEIR work specifically. \r\n\r\nThis is the most easel paper I've ever had at once--three years ago when I joined SMS I found one in our supply room and took it to my classroom. I've been using it slowly, as other resources such as book sets have been more pressing acquisitions. With this abundance of easel paper, I am of course mindful to not be wasteful, but I do use it more freely than I did before. Previously I primarily used them as information anchors, but now I also use them for period-to-period idea gathering. The more I record and highlight student-generated questions, the more they've asked strong questions. 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About this school

Schoenbar Middle School is a town public school in Ketchikan, Alaska that is part of Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District. It serves 267 students in grades 7 - 8 with a student/teacher ratio of 14.1:1. Its teachers have had 16 projects funded on DonorsChoose.

Public School

Grades 7 - 8

267 Students

19 Teachers

217 Schoenbar Rd

Ketchikan, AK 99901 View local requests

http://sms.kgbsd.org/

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Ms. Vero, a DonorsChoose teacher for 9 years.

Kindergarten teacher at PS81 - Robert J. Christen School in Bronx, NY

Schoenbar Middle School Teachers on DonorsChoose

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Schoenbar Middle School Demographics

36%

of students receive free or reduced price lunch

Source: the National Center for Education Statistics

35%

of students are Black, Latino, Native American, or Asian

Schools in districts that mainly serve students of color receive substantially less state and local support than similar districts that serve primarily White students. Learn more about this gap, why it exists, and how you can help close it.

Schoenbar Middle School Support on DonorsChoose Last updated Feb 8, 2026

DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.