{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"callToActionDisplayName":"Sprayberry High School","outOfStateSupporters":17.0,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":10268186,"projectId":9724766,"letterContent":"Through this project, my students used The Hunger Games as a powerful lens for examining how power operates, shifts, and sustains itself in societies—both fictional and real. Rather than reading the novel as a simple dystopian adventure, students engaged in close, analytical reading that pushed them to grapple with complex questions about authority, resistance, spectacle, and survival.\r\nStudents participated in a range of high-impact, student-centered activities alongside the novel, including:\r\n\r\n•\tPower Mapping Activities: Students visually mapped systems of power in Panem, tracing how control flows between the Capitol, the districts, the Games, and individual characters. They analyzed who benefits from these systems and who is silenced or exploited.\r\n•\tClose Reading of Key Passages: Using annotated excerpts, students examined language choices related to surveillance, performance, and obedience. They discussed how subtle word choices reveal the Capitol's manipulation and the psychological effects of power on individuals like Katniss and Peeta.\r\n•\tPerspective-Based Writing: Students wrote short analytical reflections from the perspectives of different characters (Tributes, Gamemakers, Capitol citizens), exploring how power looks and feels different depending on one's position within the system.\r\n•\tDebates and Socratic Seminars: Students engaged in structured discussions around questions such as: Is the Capitol's power maintained more through fear or entertainment? and At what moments does Katniss gain power—and at what cost? These conversations required students to cite textual evidence and respond thoughtfully to peers.\r\n•\tSymbol and Motif Analysis: Students traced symbols like the mockingjay, the arena, and televised spectacle to understand how power is communicated and contested beyond physical force.\r\n\r\nAs a result of this work, students developed stronger critical thinking and analytical writing skills while learning to see power as complex, layered, and often contradictory. The resources provided through this project allowed students to deeply engage with a challenging text and to connect literature to broader social and political questions—an essential skill for thoughtful, informed citizens.\r\n\r\nI am so grateful to have been able to learn alongside my students in this unit! They were highly engaged and many of them have gone on to read other books in the series just for fun! Thank you for making this experience possible!","fullyFundedDate":1761967136669,"projectUrl":"project/the-hunger-games-inspiring-students-to/9724766/","projectTitle":"The Hunger Games: Inspiring Students to Grapple with Power","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Essenburg","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-4_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10268186"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_48144","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":1769,"numTeachers":98,"percentFrplEligible":53,"percentAsian":6,"percentBlack":29,"percentWhite":31,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":26,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","gradesServed":"9 - 12","studentTeacherRatio":"18.1:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":false,"metroType":"SUBURBAN","ncesMetroType":"SUBURB_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":83.0,"schoolId":48144,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Sprayberry High School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Sprayberry High School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/georgia/cobb-county-school-district/sprayberry-high-school/48144"}
Join the 88 supporters who believe in this school.
About this school
Sprayberry High School is
a suburban public school
in Marietta, Georgia that is part of Cobb County School District.
It serves 1,769 students
in grades 9 - 12 with a student/teacher ratio of 18.1:1.
Its teachers have had 23 projects funded on DonorsChoose.
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of students receive free or reduced price lunch
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
Source: the National Center for Education Statistics
61%
of students are Black, Latino, Native
American, or Asian
Data about school demographics comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. The numbers in this chart may not add up to 100% because of limitations in the available data.
Sprayberry High School Support on DonorsChoose
Last updated Jan 15, 2026
DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students
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Sprayberry High School
$14,942
raised using DonorsChoose
23
projects
funded
11
teachers
funded
88
donors
2
projects
for
basic supplies
3
projects for
technology
10
projects for
books
Sprayberry High School has received support from
73 individuals from Georgia and
15 individuals out-of-state.