{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"West County Elementary School","outOfStateSupporters":34.0,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":9818453,"projectId":10221746,"letterContent":"he Mindful Movement for Student Wellness project has had a meaningful and positive impact on my students by creating opportunities for them to practice movement, mindfulness, self-regulation, and wellness throughout the school day. My students benefit from having activities that allow them to move their bodies, slow down, reset, and participate in experiences that support both their physical and emotional well-being. The resources provided through this project have helped make wellness an intentional part of our classroom environment rather than something that only happens during a designated activity or special event.\r\n\r\nOne of the greatest impacts I have seen is an increased willingness to participate in movement and mindfulness activities. Students have different interests, abilities, energy levels, and comfort levels, so having a variety of resources allows them to find activities that work for them. Some students enjoy stretching and simple movement exercises, while others benefit from activities that encourage them to pause, breathe, and become more aware of how their bodies feel. Providing choices has helped students become more comfortable participating and has allowed them to experience success without feeling pressured to perform in a particular way.\r\n\r\nThe project has also provided students with opportunities to develop self-regulation skills. Throughout the school day, students may experience excitement, frustration, tiredness, or difficulty maintaining attention. Mindful movement activities give students appropriate ways to pause and reset before returning to learning. Rather than simply expecting students to sit still or immediately change their behavior, we can incorporate movement and mindfulness as tools that help them recognize what their bodies and minds need. Students are beginning to understand that taking a short movement or mindful break can help them return to activities feeling more prepared and focused.\r\n\r\nAnother important benefit has been the development of confidence and independence. Students are learning that they can use movement and wellness strategies as part of their daily routines. They are given opportunities to make choices, follow directions, practice new movements, and recognize their own accomplishments. Even small successes, such as completing a stretch, trying a new activity, remaining engaged, or successfully transitioning back to a classroom task, can build confidence. These experiences help students develop a greater sense of independence while reinforcing positive habits.\r\n\r\nThe project has also supported social development. Many of our activities provide opportunities for students to participate alongside their peers, practice personal space, follow group expectations, take turns, and encourage one another. Movement activities can create natural opportunities for communication and positive interaction. Students learn that wellness is not only about taking care of themselves but can also involve respecting the needs, abilities, and boundaries of others.\r\n\r\nMost importantly, Mindful Movement for Student Wellness has helped create a classroom environment where students feel that their overall well-being matters. The project communicates that learning involves more than academics. Students need opportunities to move, connect, relax, regulate, and feel successful in order to fully participate in their school experience. Having access to these resources has allowed me to provide more engaging and purposeful wellness activities while meeting students where they are.\r\n\r\nI am grateful to the donors who made this project possible. Their generosity has provided resources that my students can use in meaningful ways throughout the school year. The impact goes beyond the individual activities because students are developing skills and strategies that they can continue to use in the classroom, at school, and in their everyday lives. Mindful Movement for Student Wellness has helped my students discover that movement can be enjoyable, mindfulness can help them reset, and taking care of themselves is an important part of being ready to learn. This project has helped us build a more positive, active, supportive, and wellness-focused learning environment for every student.","fullyFundedDate":1786474795658,"projectUrl":"project/mindful-movement-for-student-wellness/10221746/","projectTitle":"Mindful Movement for Student Wellness","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Hall","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9818453_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1761009451474","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9818453"},{"teacherId":10397642,"projectId":10115450,"letterContent":"Thanks to your generous support, our students now have engaging resources to help them grow into confident writers and sentence superstars! These materials provide hands-on opportunities for students to practice building sentences, expanding their vocabulary, and expressing their thoughts and ideas.\r\n\r\nOur students were excited to explore the new resources and eager to get started. Whether they are working on identifying words, creating complete sentences, or adding details to their writing, the materials make learning fun and accessible for every student. We have already seen students become more willing to participate and proud of their accomplishments as they watch their ideas turn into meaningful sentences.\r\n\r\nAs we continue our writing journey, our next steps are to build on these skills by encouraging students to write longer, more detailed sentences and apply their knowledge across different classroom activities. With continued practice and support, our students are well on their way to becoming independent, confident writers.\r\n\r\nThank you for helping our Sentence Superstars shine! Your generosity is making a meaningful difference in our students' learning and confidence.","fullyFundedDate":1778027736755,"projectUrl":"project/sentence-superstars-in-the-making/10115450/","projectTitle":"Sentence Superstars in the Making","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Edgar","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10397642_orig.jpg?crop=1984,1984,x1128,y628&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1771545779512","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10397642"},{"teacherId":10397642,"projectId":9985479,"letterContent":"Thanks to your generous support, our students now have access to sensory resources that help them feel calm, focused, and ready to learn. For many of our students, sensory tools are not just extras in the classroom—they are essential supports that help them regulate their emotions, manage overwhelming environments, and participate more successfully in daily activities.\r\n\r\nOur students were excited to explore the new materials and quickly began learning which tools worked best for their individual needs. During classroom activities, students have been able to use sensory resources when they feel overwhelmed, need a movement break, or require additional support to refocus on learning. Watching students independently choose a tool that helps them feel comfortable and ready to participate has been especially rewarding.\r\n\r\nThese resources have helped create a more supportive and inclusive learning environment where every student has the opportunity to succeed. As we continue working toward our academic and social-emotional goals, we look forward to helping students build greater independence in recognizing their needs and using appropriate strategies to self-regulate.\r\n\r\nThank you for investing in our students and helping make our classroom a place where all learners can thrive!","fullyFundedDate":1778010986044,"projectUrl":"project/supporting-sensory-needs-for-student-suc/9985479/","projectTitle":"Supporting Sensory Needs for Student Success","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Edgar","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10397642_orig.jpg?crop=1984,1984,x1128,y628&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1771545779512","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10397642"},{"teacherId":3984211,"projectId":10197116,"letterContent":"Your donations were able to provide so many hands on tools to keep students engaged and showing their creativity! We have used the model magic to practice using our fine motor skills and created some fun animals and letters. We have used so many materials to be able to help make connections in learning our alphabet and so much more! The students have truly enjoyed getting to try new things and use their hands to show their creativity! We have been able to display some items at our family nights as well!","fullyFundedDate":1779474587088,"projectUrl":"project/hands-on-in-prek/10197116/","projectTitle":"Hands On in PreK","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Dane","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3984211_orig.png?crop=827,827,x0,y201&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1732210587024","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/3984211"},{"teacherId":3984211,"projectId":10333335,"letterContent":"With your donations we were able to build a fun little soccer club for our after school program. Students have been learning the fundamentals of soccer and how the game works. They've been learning the rules and learning new skills to help them grow in the sport. The students are absolutely loving the opportunity to play and learn something new. We have seen so much joy from so many students who have never seen or played this sport before. We are always looking to add something new and I'm sure we try again soon!","fullyFundedDate":1784820725175,"projectUrl":"project/soccer-stars-in-the-making/10333335/","projectTitle":"Soccer Stars in the Making","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Dane","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3984211_orig.png?crop=827,827,x0,y201&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1732210587024","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/3984211"},{"teacherId":9999383,"projectId":10090357,"letterContent":"These new books introduce many important first-grade reading skills, including letter-sound relationships, decoding unfamiliar words, recognizing sight words, building vocabulary, and improving reading fluency. The stories also help students practice comprehension skills such as identifying characters and settings, retelling important events, making predictions, and discussing the lesson or main idea of a book. Beyond academics, the books encourage imagination, empathy, problem-solving, and meaningful conversations about the world around us.\r\n\r\nReading is an important part of every day in our classroom. We read together as a whole class, work with books in small groups, and give students time to read independently or with a partner. I model fluent reading and encourage students to ask questions, make connections, and share their thoughts about each story. Our classroom library is also a place students can explore their own interests and choose books that make reading feel exciting rather than simply another assignment.\r\n\r\nThe new books have been especially meaningful for students who are beginning to see themselves as confident readers. Some students who were previously hesitant to choose a book are now excited to explore the new titles, look at the illustrations, and share stories with their classmates. Students enjoy recommending their favorites to one another, rereading books they love, and proudly recognizing words they have learned. Watching their confidence, curiosity, and excitement grow has been incredibly rewarding, and these books have already become a treasured part of our classroom.","fullyFundedDate":1778007182140,"projectUrl":"project/reading-resources/10090357/","projectTitle":"Reading Resources","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Smith","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9999383_orig.jpg?crop=1080,1080,x0,y424&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1744654568299","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9999383"},{"teacherId":3984211,"projectId":9945556,"letterContent":"With your donations we have been able to put together an area for our younger students to be able to build their gross motor skills! We have been working on making those connections with our brains and gross motor skills. The research is there and shows that students lacking in some of these abilities tend to struggle with connecting of reading skills! We are hoping to bridge those gaps by getting those bigger skills moving again in our setup! The students are really enjoying getting to participate in these activities!","fullyFundedDate":1775051614699,"projectUrl":"project/growth-in-reading-with-gross-motor-skill/9945556/","projectTitle":"Growth in Reading with Gross Motor Skills","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Dane","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3984211_orig.png?crop=827,827,x0,y201&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1732210587024","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/3984211"},{"teacherId":3984211,"projectId":10319964,"letterContent":"With your donations we were able to purchase multiple different storytelling puppets to go along with our social emotional stories and more! Students have been able to express their emotions with the stories we are reading during our lessons! We have also read stories like \"No David\" and \"The Rainbow Fish\" and used story telling elements with them and students have been able to make deeper connections with the puppets involved! \r\nThe kids truly enjoy being able to use the puppets to create their own stories and beliefs in how our emotions work!","fullyFundedDate":1782751229616,"projectUrl":"project/storytelling-our-emotions/10319964/","projectTitle":"Storytelling our Emotions","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Dane","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3984211_orig.png?crop=827,827,x0,y201&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1732210587024","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/3984211"},{"teacherId":5271735,"projectId":10229036,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generous donations to our classroom! Your kindness has helped us add listening books to our classroom library, and we are so excited to use them!\r\n\r\nThese books give our students the opportunity to listen to stories while following along with the pictures and words. They are a wonderful way to build a love of reading, strengthen listening skills, and help our first graders become more confident readers.\r\n\r\nYour support makes a difference in our classroom every day. Thank you for helping us create a classroom full of books, learning, and excitement!\r\n\r\nWe are so grateful for your generosity and for supporting our little readers!","fullyFundedDate":1779370976889,"projectUrl":"project/books-for-our-listening-station/10229036/","projectTitle":"Books for Our Listening Station!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Goeller","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5271735_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1743621170358","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5271735"},{"teacherId":3982404,"projectId":10095740,"letterContent":"My students have enjoyed having their own colored version of each story. They have been engaged not only in the reading but also the activities that have gone along with them. \r\n\r\nThere were multiple times that my students asked to take the books home to read them with a loved one at home and that made my heart so happy! I cannot begin to thank you enough for your donations and helping me expand my library of stories and also allow my students to enjoy them as well.\r\n\r\nI hope you know that with this donation you are doing part in creating a joy of reading for my classroom.","fullyFundedDate":1773855722331,"projectUrl":"project/building-better-readers-for-the-future/10095740/","projectTitle":"Building Better Readers For The Future","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Wisdom","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3982404_orig.jpg?crop=1024,1024,x0,y310&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1594333137145","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/mrs-wisdom19"},{"teacherId":8664149,"projectId":9983420,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for supporting my classroom through a Teachers Pay Teachers gift card! Your generosity gives me the opportunity to choose high-quality, engaging resources that are specifically suited to my students' individual learning needs. As a special education teacher, having access to flexible and differentiated materials makes a meaningful difference in how I support each student. Your donation helps me create lessons that are engaging, purposeful, and accessible. I truly appreciate your investment in my students and their success!","fullyFundedDate":1777592548044,"projectUrl":"project/fresh-resources-for-every-learner/9983420/","projectTitle":"Fresh Resources for Every Learner","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Kristin Holdman","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8664149_orig.jpg?crop=1068,1068,x0,y185&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1664297671329","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8664149"},{"teacherId":5599623,"projectId":10332035,"letterContent":"Our elementary soccer club has given students an opportunity to learn much more than just soccer skills. Through practices and games, students are learning the importance of teamwork, communication, perseverance, and sportsmanship. \r\n\r\nThey are encouraging one another, learning how to handle both successes and challenges, and gaining confidence in their abilities.\r\n\r\nFor many of our students, this club provides an opportunity to participate in an organized sport that they may not otherwise have access to. Having the equipment and supplies needed allows every student to be an active part of the team without the financial burden falling on their families.\r\n\r\nThe biggest impact has been seeing students grow in confidence and realize that they are capable of trying something new, working hard, and being part of a team. We are so grateful to the DonorsChoose Community for helping make these experiences possible and for investing in our students both on and off the field!","fullyFundedDate":1781474541802,"projectUrl":"project/building-teamwork-and-confidence-through/10332035/","projectTitle":"Building Teamwork and Confidence Through an Elementary Soccer Club","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Kearns","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5599623_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1745877675233","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5599623"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_45176","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":390,"numTeachers":38,"percentFrplEligible":62,"percentAsian":0,"percentBlack":0,"percentWhite":95,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":1,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","percentHawaiianImputed":0,"percentMultiracialImputed":2,"gradesServed":"Pre-K - 5","studentTeacherRatio":"10.3:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"TOWN","ncesMetroType":"RURAL_DISTANT"},"inStateSupporters":66.0,"schoolId":45176,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about West County Elementary School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"West County Elementary School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/missouri/west-county-r4-school-district/west-county-elementary-school/45176"}