{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"Wilkinson Elementary School","outOfStateSupporters":30.1,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":5552449,"projectId":9778343,"letterContent":"Because of your generous support, our students are now experiencing hands-on coding and engineering in ways that were previously only possible through demonstrations. Using Finch Robots and Micro: bits, students are learning how coding connects directly to real-world problem solving. Rather than simply reading about algorithms or sequences, they design programs, test them, debug errors, and immediately see the results of their thinking in motion. This process strengthens critical thinking, collaboration, perseverance, and creativity—skills that are essential for success in today's technology-rich world.\r\nWhat excites students most is seeing their ideas \"come to life.\" When a robot successfully follows a path, they programmed or responds to sensors they configured, the classroom fills with cheers and new ideas for improvements. Students are especially motivated by the ability to personalize their projects—adding lights, sounds, and movement to create artistic STEAM designs that combine engineering with creativity. Many students who previously felt unsure about coding now eagerly volunteer to demonstrate their programs and help classmates troubleshoot challenges.\r\nSeveral students who are typically quiet during traditional lessons have truly flourished with this technology. Hands-on programming gives them an opportunity to shine as problem solvers and innovators, building confidence as they experiment and refine their work. Because of you, our students are not just learning about technology—they are becoming creators, designers, and future innovators. Thank you for helping make these meaningful learning experiences possible. Do you like this personality?","fullyFundedDate":1764794115603,"projectUrl":"project/from-stem-to-steam-coding-with-finch-ro/9778343/","projectTitle":"From STEM to STEAM: Coding with Finch Robots & Micro:bit","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shideler","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5552449_orig.png?crop=400,400,x200,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1651103491443","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5552449"},{"teacherId":5552449,"projectId":9457317,"letterContent":"Because of your generosity, our students are now exploring technology in hands-on, creative ways using the Makey Makey kits. Students are using the materials to design simple circuits that turn everyday objects—such as fruit, foil, and playdough—into interactive keyboards and game controllers. One of our favorite classroom moments was when small groups successfully created their own playable games, cheering as their homemade controllers worked for the first time. These experiences are helping students understand engineering, problem-solving, and teamwork in a meaningful, engaging way.\r\n\r\nWhen the materials first arrived, the excitement in the room was incredible. Students were immediately curious, asking questions and brainstorming what they could invent. Many who are usually hesitant during traditional lessons quickly became leaders during our building and testing sessions, confidently experimenting and encouraging their classmates. Seeing their pride when their creations worked was a powerful reminder of how hands-on learning builds confidence and motivation.\r\n\r\nNext, our students will continue expanding their projects by designing interactive learning tools connected to classroom subjects, such as creating review games for math and science or building storytelling boards that respond to touch. Your support has not only provided equipment—it has opened the door for innovation, creativity, and deeper engagement in learning. Thank you for helping our students think like engineers and creators every day.","fullyFundedDate":1757854937867,"projectUrl":"project/makey-makey-for-the-win/9457317/","projectTitle":"Makey Makey for the Win!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shideler","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5552449_orig.png?crop=400,400,x200,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1651103491443","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5552449"},{"teacherId":5552449,"projectId":9744477,"letterContent":"Because of your generous support, our students now have hands-on access to Edison Robots, and the impact has been immediate. These small but powerful tools are helping students learn critical skills such as problem-solving, coding, collaboration, and perseverance. Instead of simply reading about technology, students are actively programming robots, testing ideas, making adjustments, and learning that mistakes are part of the engineering process. This type of hands-on learning strengthens math, science, and logical thinking skills while also building confidence as students see their code come to life.\r\nWhat excites students most is the ability to control the robots themselves. They love designing pathways, creating challenges, and watching their programs work (or sometimes fail and then improve!). The excitement in the classroom is contagious with students cheering when a robot successfully completes a task and eagerly help one another troubleshoot when something doesn't work. For many students, this is their first experience with coding, and it opens their eyes to new possibilities for future learning and careers.\r\nSeveral students who are typically quiet during traditional lessons have truly come alive while working with the Edison Robots. These students eagerly volunteer to demonstrate their programs, collaborate with peers, and persist through challenges until they succeed. Your generosity has provided opportunities for engagement, creativity, and meaningful learning experiences that our students will remember for years to come. Thank you for helping put \"big learning\" into the hands of our students!","fullyFundedDate":1758809331725,"projectUrl":"project/edison-robots-big-learning-in-small-ha/9744477/","projectTitle":"Edison Robots = Big Learning in Small Hands","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shideler","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5552449_orig.png?crop=400,400,x200,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1651103491443","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5552449"},{"teacherId":5552449,"projectId":9715151,"letterContent":"Thanks to your generous support, our classroom has been transformed into a space where imagination and learning come together in powerful ways. The 3D pens are helping students understand that ideas do not have to stay on paper—they can be designed, built, and improved with their own hands. As students create models, shapes, and structures, they are practicing planning, measuring, problem-solving, and perseverance, all while strengthening important STEM and creative-thinking skills. This hands-on technology allows learning to feel meaningful and real, helping students better understand concepts that can sometimes feel abstract.\r\n\r\nStudents are especially excited about the freedom to design something completely their own. The moment they see their drawings rise into three-dimensional creations is filled with excitement and pride. Several students who are usually quiet during traditional lessons have become highly engaged during 3D pen activities, eagerly volunteering to demonstrate techniques, share ideas, and collaborate with classmates. It has been wonderful to watch students gain confidence as they experiment, make adjustments, and celebrate their finished creations.\r\n\r\nYour kindness has given our students opportunities to explore, invent, and think like designers and engineers. We are incredibly grateful for your support and for helping our young learners experience the joy of creating something truly their own.","fullyFundedDate":1758582243420,"projectUrl":"project/bringing-ideas-to-life-creative-3d-pens/9715151/","projectTitle":"Bringing Ideas to Life: Creative 3D Pens for Young Makers","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shideler","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5552449_orig.png?crop=400,400,x200,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1651103491443","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5552449"},{"teacherId":5552449,"projectId":9644766,"letterContent":"Because of your generous support, our students now have the opportunity to explore coding, problem-solving, and collaboration through hands-on robotics experiences with the Cooper robots. While many donors may use technology at home, the difference in the classroom is that students are not just consuming technology—they are creating with it. Through coding challenges and guided robotics missions, students are learning how to think logically, test solutions, revise their plans, and work together to solve real problems. These skills build critical thinking, perseverance, and confidence that support learning across all subject areas.\r\nWhat excites our students most is seeing their own code come to life. When a robot successfully completes a path, they programmed or responds exactly as they designed, students experience an immediate sense of accomplishment. The robots have also sparked enthusiasm among students who may not typically see themselves as leaders in academic activities; many of these learners have stepped forward to help teammates troubleshoot, explain ideas, and guide group problem-solving. It has been especially rewarding to watch quieter students gain confidence as they realize that their ideas and coding solutions truly matter.\r\nYour support has transformed learning into an engaging adventure where creativity, teamwork, and innovation thrive every day. Thank you for helping our students build the skills, curiosity, and excitement that will prepare them for the future.","fullyFundedDate":1757605657698,"projectUrl":"project/code-play-learn-cooper-robot-adventur/9644766/","projectTitle":"Code, Play, Learn: Cooper Robot Adventures","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shideler","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5552449_orig.png?crop=400,400,x200,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1651103491443","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5552449"},{"teacherId":9441701,"projectId":9931206,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generous donation to our preschool classroom. Because of you, our students now have a beautiful large rug that has truly transformed our whole-group learning and literacy time.\r\nWhen the rug was first introduced, the children's faces lit up with excitement. they immediately gathered together, found their spots, and proudly sat \" crisscross applesause\" as we talked about how this special space would be used for learning. The rug quickly became a favorite place in our classroom - a place where everyone feels included, comfortable, and ready to learn.\r\nWe now use the rug everyday for whole - group activities such as story time, songs, letter games, and discussions. It has helped us build a sense of community while giving students a defined space to focus, listen, and participate. the rug has made our literacy instruction more engaging and accessible for all learners.\r\nThanks to your support our children have made amazing progress. We have learned all of the letters of the alphabet, and are now moving on to an exciting milestone - learning the sound that each letter makes, \r\nYour generosity has made a lasting impact on our classroom and on our students' love of learning.","fullyFundedDate":1764600550160,"projectUrl":"project/mini-minds-literacy-mission/9931206/","projectTitle":"Mini Minds Literacy Mission","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. E","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-1_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9441701"},{"teacherId":9265448,"projectId":9927336,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for helping us add to our classroom music center. When the students saw the new instruments, they were so excited. They all wanted to sign up to go to that center first. It is wonderful seeing them explore creating new sounds and rhythms. Giving them the opportunity to express themselves through music is so important. Perhaps learning about instruments and music concepts at this young age will pique their interest to study music later in life. We are very grateful for your generosity and understanding of the importance of music.","fullyFundedDate":1764600147763,"projectUrl":"project/musical-instruments-for-pre-k/9927336/","projectTitle":"Musical Instruments for Pre K","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Wall","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9265448_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1721861817602","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9265448"},{"teacherId":6511479,"projectId":9727604,"letterContent":"Teaching early readers can be a challenge. Young readers need text, lots of text, in order to apply newly learned phonics skills and build fluency. However, finding high-quality decodable text that truly aligns with students' acquired skills can be difficult.\r\n\r\nBefore this project, the aligned decodable texts available to me were mostly single-page passages without illustrations. While helpful, they didn't feel like real books to my students. Thanks to your generosity, I was able to use my Reading A-Z subscription along with our new EcoTank printer to create colorful, highly decodable books for daily practice. These books look and feel like \"real\" books, which has made a tremendous difference for my students.\r\n\r\nI've been able to create many books and still have plenty of ink remaining. Every teacher needs the game-changing EcoTank! Nothing compares to the experience of a student holding a book, turning the pages, and reading successfully. That sense of accomplishment has dramatically increased motivation and engagement.\r\n\r\nBecause I can now print freely, I've also been able to create books that directly align with our standards, including content-based texts such as Martin Luther King, Jr. I'm busy making books for every phonics skill and content area I can. This project has truly given our classroom unlimited access to meaningful, decodable reading material.\r\n\r\nWhile standardized testing isn't everything, our mid-year progress monitoring showed significant gains in fluency and comprehension for every single student. Your support is helping build confident, capable readers every day!","fullyFundedDate":1760553726097,"projectUrl":"project/building-readers-one-sound-at-a-time/9727604/","projectTitle":"Building Readers, One Sound at a Time","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Schaefer","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp6511479_orig.jpg?crop=1498,1498,x0,y99&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1614734121197","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/v-schaefer"},{"teacherId":8621517,"projectId":9550783,"letterContent":"I cannot begin to express how thankful I am for your contributions to my class. This donation has had an amazing impact on my students, and I want to personally thank The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation for making this possible.\r\n\r\nTo be able to give my students a snack when they don't bring one in - is so wonderful. They are so grateful to be able to have something to eat during the day since we eat lunch so early. Their favorite snacks are Doritos and Barbecue chips. But they also like the fruit snacks.\r\n\r\nI have attached a picture of my class getting ready to enjoy their snack. \r\n\r\nAgain, thank you so much for your kind donations!","fullyFundedDate":1758823219564,"projectUrl":"project/healthy-snacks/9550783/","projectTitle":"Healthy Snacks","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Della Donna","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-9_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8621517"},{"teacherId":9265448,"projectId":9921444,"letterContent":"We cannot thank you enough for your very generous gift of art supplies to our classroom! The students get so excited when I introduce a new art material for them to try out! They really enjoy the painting easel station, but their faces completely lit up when they saw glitter paints and neon paints instead of the same old tempra paints! They couldn't wait to express their creativity with these exciting new paints! And they have created the most beautiful and unique snowflakes with the liquid watercolors and salt. I have to admit that I was very excited about the gorgeous liquid water colors as well because I have never had it in the budget to get them and I've always hoped to try them one day. They are awesome!\r\n\r\nMy assistant used some of the glue to make slime with them. They all had a wonderful, messy time with it! Some of our children are very hesitant to get messy. I don't know if messy projects are frowned upon at home, if it is just a new and unsettling sensation for them, or what might cause it, but seeing them forget about their worries and dive in to get arm deep in slime mess is magical! You have made these sorts of experiences possible for my students, for which we are all very grateful!","fullyFundedDate":1763958283746,"projectUrl":"project/art-for-young-learners/9921444/","projectTitle":"Art for Young Learners","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Wall","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9265448_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1721861817602","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9265448"},{"teacherId":5552449,"projectId":9644984,"letterContent":"My students are curious in a way that is contagious. They ask big questions, imagine bold ideas, and light up when they are given the chance to create with their hands. Many of them learn best by doing, building, and experimenting—and when the BeaverBot cardboard cutter arrived in our classroom, it felt like a door opened. The moment they saw it; their faces filled with excitement. They leaned in close, asking questions, sharing ideas, and eagerly imagining what they could build. For them, this wasn't just a new tool—it was permission to dream bigger.\r\n\r\nBefore this project, my students were often limited to paper or pre-made materials. While they worked hard, they were always imagining what they could make if they had the right tools. The BeaverBot has completely changed that. Now, students safely cut, shape, and design with cardboard, transforming a simple material into something meaningful. Cardboard has become cars, bridges, towers, homes, and inventions that exist only because students believed they could create them.\r\n\r\nOne of our first projects involved designing and building cardboard structures. Students planned their designs, discussed which shapes would be strongest, tested their ideas, and made changes when something didn't work. When a structure collapsed, there was no frustration—only determination. Students immediately asked, \"What can we do better?\" and \"Can we try again?\" That moment showed me how powerful hands-on learning can be. They weren't afraid to fail because they knew they were learning.\r\n\r\nThe BeaverBot has also brought collaboration and confidence into our classroom. Students work together, share materials, help each other problem-solve, and celebrate each other's successes. I've watched students who are usually quiet become leaders as they explain their designs. I've seen students who struggle academically find pride and purpose as their ideas come to life in three dimensions. These moments are transformative.\r\n\r\nMost importantly, this resource gives my students access to authentic STEAM experiences they might not otherwise have. Many of my students have limited exposure to tools, technology, or engineering outside of school. Because of our donors, they now get to experience what it feels like to be an engineer, a designer, a builder, and an inventor. They are learning perseverance, creativity, and critical thinking—skills that will stay with them far beyond this classroom.\r\n\r\nThank you for believing in my students. Your generosity has turned curiosity into confidence and imagination into creation. Because of you, my students are not just learning about the world—they are learning that they have the power to shape it.","fullyFundedDate":1757529207946,"projectUrl":"project/cutting-into-creativity-with-beaverbot/9644984/","projectTitle":"Cutting Into Creativity with Beaverbot: Safe Cardboard Engineering for Kids","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shideler","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5552449_orig.png?crop=400,400,x200,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1651103491443","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5552449"},{"teacherId":8621517,"projectId":9550788,"letterContent":"First and foremost, thank you for your generous contribution to my class! \r\n\r\nMy students that do not bring snack everyday are able to have one every single day! They look forward to snack time. I've noticed a difference in their behavior as well.\r\n\r\nThis project will benefit 100% of my students this year. It is amazing how something as simple as having a snack can help with learning. \r\n\r\nFinally, thank you donors – you are making a dramatic difference in the lives of my students and many other students that you fund!","fullyFundedDate":1755615014805,"projectUrl":"project/healthy-snacks/9550788/","projectTitle":"Healthy Snacks","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Della Donna","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-9_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8621517"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_47126","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":422,"numTeachers":43,"percentFrplEligible":76,"percentAsian":1,"percentBlack":14,"percentWhite":40,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":37,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","gradesServed":"Pre-K - 5","studentTeacherRatio":"9.8:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"SUBURBAN","ncesMetroType":"SUBURB_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":69.9,"schoolId":47126,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Wilkinson Elementary School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Wilkinson Elementary School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/florida/sarasota-county-school-district/wilkinson-elementary-school/47126"}