{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"callToActionDisplayName":"West Side Union Elementary School","outOfStateSupporters":8.0,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":4696832,"projectId":9594822,"letterContent":"We are an active class (and die-hard soccer/ futbol fans)! We have been integrating our new PE equipment for movement breaks and community/ team-building games. This equipment also supports our efforts in ensuring students receive quality health education related activities throughout the week.\r\n\r\nBy ensuring students have access to equipment, we are creating healthy routines and associations with exercise at an impressionable and critical age where body image and physical changes are at the forefront of our minds. Thank you for helping us create a safe, fun and supportive space!","fullyFundedDate":1755557345457,"projectUrl":"project/bobcats-on-the-move/9594822/","projectTitle":"Bobcats on the Move!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Fossett","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-7_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/4696832"},{"teacherId":4696832,"projectId":9561323,"letterContent":"Thank you for your generous gifts! Students were thrilled to see tissues samples of the human body under the microscope (EX: lung, muscle, bone and blood). We then discussed, sketched and shared ideas to model these tissues and structures through lung and arm models. You might even say we are well on our way to creating a full \"bionic man\" (according to my students!). \r\n\r\nWe have also been using these microscopes to take our own samples and make slides to identify the intricate reproductive parts of plants (flowers) from our school garden. Students will also be using the microscopes to observe, study and illustrate their assigned native plant's health and growth/ decline throughout the course of the school year (climate/ ecology research project). \r\n\r\nI am so excited to continue finding ways to integrate this incredible resource into our learning all year long!","fullyFundedDate":1754952424530,"projectUrl":"project/6th-grade-stem-initiative/9561323/","projectTitle":"6th Grade STEM Initiative","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Fossett","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-7_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/4696832"},{"teacherId":5307584,"projectId":9230866,"letterContent":"I wish I could share a video of my students tearing into the packages that came to our classroom. Try to picture it, tape flying while others ask neighbors which book they think is inside, a triumphant cheer of \"It's here\" followed by cries of \"Can I read it first?\" We had a classroom meeting to discuss how to decide who gets to read the books first. \r\n This is a teacher's dream come true. Students are not only willing to read, but pleading. They had conversations about which book in the series was best and why. I witnessed friends placing books onto another's desk with a \"You HAVE TO read this. I know you'll like it.\" \r\n I can build a culture of reading, I can encourage students to try to get lost in a story, but it was your generous donation that made books a joyful and exciting adventure. Students will most likely not remember the lesson I gave on shades of meaning, but their friend introducing them to their new favorite book series is something they will remember for years to come. Thank you for making it possible.","fullyFundedDate":1744745843746,"projectUrl":"project/arg-where-is-book-3/9230866/","projectTitle":"Arg! Where Is Book 3?","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Mendez","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5307584_orig.jpg?crop=628,628,x334,y279&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1597524980593","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5307584"},{"teacherId":5546215,"projectId":9059431,"letterContent":"We planted zinnias, sunflowers, marigolds and other colorful flowers around campus and in take-home pots for the kids to tend at their own houses, thanks to YOU. The students also propagated our famous chocolate mint and gave it away in the pots to their big buddies as a \"piece of our school\". Thank you immensely for your donation and support for our outdoor education program. These students love to get out, get dirty, and do project based learning. Especially when it is possible to take a project home.","fullyFundedDate":1744039647900,"projectUrl":"project/colorful-spring-planting-projects/9059431/","projectTitle":"Colorful Spring Planting Projects","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Stefanie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5546215_orig.jpg?crop=1948,1948,x1034,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1695355123516","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5546215"},{"teacherId":5336730,"projectId":8866945,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for making this printmaking project come to life in my classroom. The materials that you helped to provide made it possible for my 5th graders to explore this art form and develop skills that they would not have otherwise had access to, and the students LOVED printing!\r\n We started our printmaking journey by looking at examples of printing in many forms-- advertisements and logos that the kids were familiar with but never realized were made from printing, fabrics created with block printing, and the most simple to more complex artworks created by both other children and established artists. Then we worked on drawing and keeping our designs bold and simple enough to use with our first tool, printing foam. Scratching or \"carving\" out with stylus or even toothpicks, the students moved from simple drawings to more elaborate patterns to symbols that represented learning topics in class and their own values. \r\n The true leveling up came when we began using the linoleum blocks and real carving tools. Students experimented with positive and negative space and began to create more detailed and challenging blocks, taking concentrated time to create and revisit their work until they were happy with their results. The amount of focus and enthusiasm for this work was exciting to witness-- the students couldn't wait to get another chance to create artwork with these tools!\r\n Thank you for giving us this wonderful opportunity to create and learn in a new way!","fullyFundedDate":1738940133657,"projectUrl":"project/exploring-the-art-of-relief-printmaking/8866945/","projectTitle":"Exploring the Art of Relief Printmaking","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Dalton","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5336730_orig.jpg?crop=1390,1390,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1663879443425","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/westside5-dalton"},{"teacherId":5307584,"projectId":8840010,"letterContent":"Many adults can articulate the genre of book they gravitate towards. Second-grade students will say with authority that they only like \"dragon books\" or \"just graphic novels\" but are typically not exposed to the other genres. This project allowed students to taste test without pressure to read the entire book. \r\n\r\nI have overheard more book talks about genres. Students understand what makes the genres unique and can articulate why they enjoy or do not enjoy a genre. I hope that this project helps students to understand themselves and their unique book tastes. I know that they are open-minded about new books. \r\n\r\nThanks to this project, students can experience cultures that are different than their own. One student asked to borrow a new book so he could share it with his grandmother. He promised to take excellent care of it. He wanted to read it to her. the way he gently held the book in his hands conveyed how he felt- the book was precious to him. Another student attempted to mimic the beautiful illustrations of a picture book that inspired her. \r\n\r\nBooks are windows to new ideas and new ways of thinking, and I am grateful to offer my deserving students this opportunity and grateful that it will be an annual event from now on.","fullyFundedDate":1733278277242,"projectUrl":"project/literacy-is-delicious/8840010/","projectTitle":"Literacy is Delicious","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Mendez","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5307584_orig.jpg?crop=628,628,x334,y279&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1597524980593","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5307584"},{"teacherId":5546215,"projectId":8831003,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your support for our school garden and environmental science program. We have been learning about compost, worms and recycling. The fourth graders set up the compost system and added worms, paper, leaves, lunch fruit and vegetables. They are excited to watch the items turn into soil. It is set right outside the classroom, so every day they can add uneaten food, paper towels etc. The books have been a huge hit with all the children as have our discussions of recycling, garbage, compost and food waste.","fullyFundedDate":1733277937281,"projectUrl":"project/compost-worms-and-recycling/8831003/","projectTitle":"Compost, Worms, and Recycling","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Stefanie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5546215_orig.jpg?crop=1948,1948,x1034,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1695355123516","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5546215"},{"teacherId":5056357,"projectId":8890664,"letterContent":"I am awed by your extreme generosity. We received dozens of books chosen by the students and they couldn't be happier! When the students came into class and saw all those boxes topped with bows they literally squealed in excitement! We opened the boxes and got to work organizing the books.\r\n The students created labels for the spine of each book so they could be placed in alphabetical order, or in genre categories, in our classroom library. They created a checkout system and a waiting list for the new titles. Then, they began to read like crazy! They sit on the floor and read in partners, they read when they finish an assignment early, they take the books home and read at night, and they even sneak read when they should be paying attention to a lesson. \r\n The biographies have been a particular hit! Students are reading about Simone Biles, Albert Einstein, Michelle Obama, Bob Dylan, and other famous athletes, musicians, political figures, and authors. Reluctant readers love the books that also have a heavy graphic presence to support their developing reading skills.\r\n Thank you so much for giving us the gift of books chosen by kids. When kids choose, kids read!!!","fullyFundedDate":1731258485909,"projectUrl":"project/kids-choose/8890664/","projectTitle":"Kids Choose!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Bjorkquist","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp5056357_272x272.png?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1515454251429","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/lamib"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_5222","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":137,"numTeachers":7,"percentFrplEligible":36,"percentAsian":0,"percentBlack":0,"percentWhite":71,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":22,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","gradesServed":"K - 6","studentTeacherRatio":"19.6:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":false,"metroType":"SUBURBAN","ncesMetroType":"RURAL_FRINGE"},"inStateSupporters":92.0,"schoolId":5222,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about West Side Union Elementary School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"West Side Union Elementary School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/california/west-side-union-elementary-school-district/west-side-union-elementary-school/5222"}