{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"callToActionDisplayName":"West Ashley High School","outOfStateSupporters":42.2,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":2875687,"projectId":9465793,"letterContent":"Greetings from Charleston, SC! I wanted to give you a little insight into how you gave a 24-year veteran teacher a boost when I took my time and talents to a new school to make an impact on a deserving community that needed a teacher to take ownership of their Strings & Piano programs. \r\nI got my new job at West Ashley High School on May 31, 2025. For 2 weeks, I was floating on air at the thought of being chosen to lead this program. I was excited, hopeful, envisioning my classroom with all its musical instruments and new students. Then it set in: the sadness of losing colleagues at the school I was leaving, the comfort of having everything I needed, including a $20k annual budget, and the realization of leaving the students and families I had taught and been a part of for 18 good, solid years. \r\nI spent the rest of my summer bouncing between action and worry. I revamped our website, created a new Piano & Strings logo, updated syllabi, and music handbooks. I set up a whole year of concerts, recruited ninth graders as a sort of summer scheduling \"Hail Mary\" to fill my Advanced Orchestra class, and had lunch with new colleagues. I intentionally expanded my three piano classes from 15 to 24 seats and increased the number of upper-level classes available for the Advanced Piano students, and requested funding for a new piano lab. I was on fire! \r\nThen the worry set in: I saw my classroom with a microscopic lens and no longer through rose-colored glasses. The reality is that my classroom is called the \"Black Box\" and was designed to be a Theater classroom. Yes, black walls, no windows, and not one poster on the wall. I conducted a thorough cleaning, from top to bottom, and spent a few weeks making this monochromatic space welcoming and organized. What struck me most was finding so many bare cupboards and so few things the students would need for the new school year. I ordered new strings for the fleet of instruments that I found were in disrepair. \r\nIt was around this time that I wrote up a quick DonorsChoose Grant to help with acquiring some of these essential supplies. We needed shoulder rests and rock stops for proper posture, rosin for our bows, and cloths to clean our strings after each practice. It doesn't sound like much, but a cake of rosin for a bass player is $16 each, and a violin shoulder rests run about $25 each. Multiply that by thirty advanced students and fifteen beginners, and you're talking about a considerable expense to all. \r\nOne of the last things I bought was a used IKEA cubby station and some bins. I placed some of our new logos on the cabinet and labeled it so students can easily access and retrieve any materials they need. Students have been respectful, organized, and have taken care of the materials without being micromanaged, and we will have plenty for years to come. The donations to our classroom enabled us to establish our systems, and for a veteran teacher, it means a great deal to have the necessary resources in place from the very first weeks of school.\r\nThank you so much for supporting the West Ashley HS Orchestra in the classroom through DonorsChoose grants. You definitely selected one that uses all the materials you sent us daily, and we are so grateful for your kindness and generosity. \r\nI finally unpacked my final box of music and textbooks about a week ago, and I have been able to reflect on the last 13 weeks of the school year. I had no idea what to expect when I took the job at West Ashley High School, but I will say that receiving your grant was one of the things that calmed those worries and fears, knowing that your support would give us the momentum to have a positive start to our school year.","fullyFundedDate":1758560625211,"projectUrl":"project/veteran-teacher-walking-into-new-to-me/9465793/","projectTitle":"Veteran Teacher: Walking Into New-to-Me Strings Program!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Quinn","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp2875687_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1448714982275","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/2875687"},{"teacherId":2875687,"projectId":9459208,"letterContent":"Greetings from Charleston, SC! I wanted to give you a little insight as to how you gave a 24-year veteran teacher a boost when I took my time and talents to a new school to make an impact on a deserving community that needed a teacher to take ownership of their Strings & Piano program. \r\nI got my new job at West Ashley High School on May 31, 2025. For 2 weeks, I was floating on air at the thought of being chosen to lead this program. I was excited, hopeful, envisioning my classroom with all its musical instruments and new students. Then it set in: the sadness of losing colleagues at the school I was leaving, the comfort of having everything I needed, including a $20k annual budget, and the realization of leaving the students and families I had taught and been a part of for 18 good, solid years. \r\nI spent the rest of my summer bouncing between action and worry. I revamped our website, created a new Piano & Strings logo, updated syllabi, and music handbooks. I set up a whole year of concerts, recruited ninth graders as a sort of summer scheduling \"Hail Mary\" to fill my classes, and had lunch with new colleagues. I intentionally expanded my three piano classes from 15 to 24 seats and increased the number of upper levels available to take my class. I requested funding for a new piano lab and strings. I was on fire! \r\nThe worry set in: I saw my classroom with a microscopic lens and no longer through rose-colored glasses. The reality is that my classroom is called the \"Black Box\" and was designed to be a Theater classroom. Yes, black walls, no windows, and not one poster on the wall. There were so many things I needed to make our learning space welcoming and organized! Luckily, I had many posters and artworks to liven the space up. On a whim, I went to Amazon, created a cart, and posted it on my Facebook account. That's where the DonorsChoose grant came in: By that evening, I remembered that I could write up a quick DonorsChoose Grant to help with those needs. Thanks to Ann Taylor Loft, the grant was funded within 48 hours–unbelievable!!! After we got the dust and cobwebs up and moved my things to WAHS, we were able to get ready for the new school year. DonorsChoose grant materials started arriving on August 6th, just a week before school. From sharpies to markers, glossy folders for each student, power strips for our Piano Lab and teacher computer station, picture hanging strips for our posters, and enough pencils to last us an entire year, as well as two storage cabinets for class materials and piano books, and a two tier Regal Conductor's Music Stand for my two String Orchestra classes has allowed me to stay organized. It's been such a Godsend for us to be able to share materials with students and make spaces to store things we will need year-round. \r\nYou can tell the students feel proud of their space, black walls and all. They arrived at the start of the school year and took note of the organization in each space, showing respect for the new additions. It has been nice having a few student stations where they can grab and go with any materials they need for projects or classwork, like pencils and markers. Students have been able to keep their music and assignments organized in their folders, and it's been great. I believe that the donations to our classroom enabled us to get our systems in place, and for a veteran teacher, it means so much to have the things we needed within the first few weeks of school.\r\nThank you so much for taking the time out of your day and the money out of your budget to support us in the classroom through DonorsChoose grants. You definitely selected one that uses all the materials you sent us daily, and we are so grateful for your kindness and generosity. \r\nI had no idea what to expect when I took the job at West Ashley High School, but I will say that receiving your grant was one of the things that calmed those worries and fears, knowing that your support would give us the momentum to have a positive start to our school year.","fullyFundedDate":1752586583259,"projectUrl":"project/seasoned-music-teacher-new-space-help/9459208/","projectTitle":"Seasoned Music Teacher: NEW SPACE. HELP!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Quinn","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp2875687_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1448714982275","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/2875687"},{"teacherId":8617272,"projectId":9000660,"letterContent":"Our sewing machine is in! We have a perfect new home for it located in the Visual Art office. The desk has storage for thread, needles, bobbins, scissors and more. Our students are already so excited to expand their creating into the world of textiles. \r\n\r\nSome of our AP Students have been experimenting with textiles so the sewing machine will allow them to go to a whole new level. The sewing machine will also be used in an upcoming Art 1 Project where we will upcycle old clothes to make them new. Without your support and help these projects would not have happened. \r\n\r\nThank you again so much for your donation, the West Ashley Visual Art Department will forever be thankful.","fullyFundedDate":1734291883785,"projectUrl":"project/textiles-to-west-ashley-sewing-mixed-m/9000660/","projectTitle":"Textiles to West Ashley - Sewing Mixed Media","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Tierney","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8617272_orig.jpg?crop=597,597,x47,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1723231929439","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8617272"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_6481","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":2069,"numTeachers":109,"percentFrplEligible":95,"percentAsian":1,"percentBlack":35,"percentWhite":47,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":8,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","gradesServed":"9 - 12","studentTeacherRatio":"19.0:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":false,"metroType":"URBAN","ncesMetroType":"CITY_MIDSIZE"},"inStateSupporters":57.8,"schoolId":6481,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about West Ashley High School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"West Ashley High School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/south-carolina/charleston-county-school-district/west-ashley-high-school/6481"}