{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"Budlong Elementary School","outOfStateSupporters":31.2,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":9007143,"projectId":10382748,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your support in bringing our new SEL and seasonal book collection into our classroom! When the big boxes of fresh books arrived, my 1st-grade scientists and storytellers couldn't wait to gather on the rug to see what was inside. Their faces lit up with pure joy as we pulled out colorful covers highlighting seasonal changes and stories focused on feelings, friendship, and resilience. Having a library filled with diverse, meaningful stories has immediately made our reading corner the favorite spot in our entire classroom.\r\n\r\nThese new resources have already made a meaningful impact on our daily routine. One of our favorite moments so far was reading a story about navigating big emotions during morning circle. The children listened intently, nodding along as characters experienced feelings just like theirs. Afterward, during partner reading, several students naturally picked up our new seasonal books, pointing out autumn leaves and weather changes, while using the SEL vocabulary we discussed to talk about how the characters were feeling. Seeing them make deep connections between emotional awareness, the changing seasons around them, and the printed page has been truly magical.\r\n\r\nLooking ahead, we are using these books as the anchor for our ongoing seasonal literacy and community-building lessons throughout the school year. As each season changes, my students will use these stories to inspire daily writing journals, artistic reflections, and class discussions on how we can show kindness and empathy to one another. Your generosity hasn't just added books to our shelves—it has helped build a safe, empathetic, and joyful environment where my students can grow both as readers and as caring individuals.","fullyFundedDate":1787183131248,"projectUrl":"project/books-that-help-us-grow-sel-and-seasona/10382748/","projectTitle":"Books That Help Us Grow: SEL and Seasonal Stories","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Peterlin","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9007143_orig.jpg?crop=2036,2036,x443,y554&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1686692184578","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9007143"},{"teacherId":9007143,"projectId":10156920,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your incredible generosity in funding our butterfly life cycle project! When the packages arrived, my 1st-grade scientists were practically jumping out of their seats with excitement. As we unboxed the butterfly habitat, life cycle models, stories, and especially the live caterpillars, their eyes completely lit up. They couldn't wait to lean in close, examine the tiny caterpillars crawling around, and eagerly flip through the new books to figure out what would happen next.\r\n\r\nHaving these hands-on resources and rich stories in our classroom has completely transformed our science unit. One of our favorite moments was setting up our observation station and reading our new butterfly books together during interactive read-aloud time. The stories brought key scientific concepts to life, helping our 1st graders easily connect vocabulary like metamorphosis, chrysalis, and caterpillar to both the physical models and our living specimens. During center time, students immediately gravitated to the reading nook, re-telling the stories to one another while pointing to the real caterpillars hard at work eating and growing.\r\n\r\nThe next steps were even more exciting as we watched our live caterpillars prepare to build their chrysalises inside our new habitat! Each 1st-grade scientist is maintaining a daily butterfly journal, drawing sketches and writing reflection sentences to track their growth stage by stage. Once our butterflies emerged, we celebrated by releasing them into our school garden. Your support didn't just give us classroom supplies—it created a joyful, living laboratory that my students will remember for years to come.","fullyFundedDate":1774461620935,"projectUrl":"project/witnessing-the-magic-our-first-grade-bu/10156920/","projectTitle":"Witnessing the Magic: Our First Grade Butterfly Lab","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Peterlin","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9007143_orig.jpg?crop=2036,2036,x443,y554&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1686692184578","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9007143"},{"teacherId":10485309,"projectId":10221288,"letterContent":"How we're using the new resources:\r\nThanks to your generosity, our students at Budlong have officially kicked off our balance bike unit! With our new fleet of balance bikes, helmets, and organized storage system, we are building a fundamental physical literacy program right here at school. Learning to ride a bike is an essential life skill. One that gives our Chicago students independence, active habits, and a safe, fun way to navigate our city for the rest of their lives.\r\n\r\nTheir initial reaction:\r\nWhen the students first walked in and saw the bright new bikes neatly lined up on their new storage racks, the group erupted with excitement! Gasps, wide eyes, and eager questions immediately filled the space: \"Are those really for us?\" and \"Do we get to ride them today?!\" The excitement was palpable, and every single student couldn't wait to strap on a helmet and get moving.\r\n\r\nWhat's next for our students:\r\nRight now, students are mastering the fundamentals, building balance, steering, and practicing proper helmet safety. As their confidence grows over the coming weeks, our next step is setting up obstacle courses and simulated \"city streets\" to teach spatial awareness, control, and rules of the road. You didn't just donate equipment; you gave our scholars a skill and a core memory that will stay with them for a lifetime.\r\n\r\nWith deepest gratitude,","fullyFundedDate":1786382499471,"projectUrl":"project/wheels-for-wellness-safe-cycling-for-bu/10221288/","projectTitle":"Wheels for Wellness: Safe Cycling for Budlong Students","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Szyska","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-5_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10485309"},{"teacherId":5673708,"projectId":10292288,"letterContent":"Thank you for you generosity donating to my STEAM classroom. You have helped me continue to build a maker space where students can explore and build their STEAM identities. Your donations helped us start the school year off strong as engineers. Second grade students used their content knowledge of gravity and friction to design and build marble roller coasters. Third graders took on the identities of aerospace engineers designing reusable rockets. Students engaged in a critter challenge where they created a cardboard animal model to showcase adaptations that help it thrive in it's environment. It's been amazing to see all their creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking activated and growing! These experiences have created a domino affect, inspiring more and more ideas for projects by my student engineers. Your donations will help me bring their ideas to fruition for years to come!","fullyFundedDate":1787849071169,"projectUrl":"project/full-steam-ahead-maker-space-magic/10292288/","projectTitle":"Full STEAM Ahead: Maker-Space Magic","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Slade","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp5673708_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1534015405291","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5673708"},{"teacherId":7828882,"projectId":10157361,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generous support in funding our primary composition notebooks! Because of your kindness, our first graders started the school year with the exact tools they needed. We kicked off our writing journey by sharing about things we like, creating \"I am...\" and \"I can...\" pages to introduce ourselves, and the students were thrilled to have brand-new journals of their own.\r\n\r\nCurrently, we are using these notebooks to launch our first narrative writing unit. Having space for both drawing and primary lined writing allows my young learners to express their ideas clearly as they grow as authors. We will continue using these notebooks every single day during Writing Workshop throughout the entire school year.\r\n\r\nYour generosity has made a wonderful impact on our classroom, helping foster a love for writing right from day one. We are so grateful for your support!","fullyFundedDate":1776434140272,"projectUrl":"project/little-writers-big-stories/10157361/","projectTitle":"Little Writers, Big Stories!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Oster","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp7828882_orig.jpg?crop=3024,3024,x0,y473&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1715863582069","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/7828882"},{"teacherId":5673708,"projectId":10098688,"letterContent":"Thank you for helping me put the T in my STEAM class. With your generosity, I have been able to incorporate coding and robotics into my students' STEAM experiences. They have risen to these new challenges. Students have learned to code programs using Micro:bits. They have been able to take their passions and engineering processes to new levels. Students who have a love of music, have been able to build cardboard guitars, and then wire & code them to actually play music. Students have been able to invent new characters and code languages for them to speak. Students have been able to build with Legos and then code their builds to have moving parts. They've made helicopters with spinning propellers, moving vehicles with working headlights, and more! Thank you for helping me continue to grow my students' STEAM identities","fullyFundedDate":1778175963193,"projectUrl":"project/lets-put-the-t-in-steam/10098688/","projectTitle":"Let's Put the T in Steam","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Slade","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp5673708_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1534015405291","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5673708"},{"teacherId":2517403,"projectId":10044036,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generosity and support of our project. Because of your contribution, our class now has access to thousands of leveled books right at their fingertips. This resource allows every student to read at their individual level while being challenged and engaged with topics that truly interest them.\r\n\r\nThe kids absolutely love Raz. They read every single day, and their reading levels have soared. It has been incredible to watch their confidence and excitement for reading grow.\r\n\r\nThank you again for making such a meaningful difference in our classroom. Your support has opened doors for our young readers and helped them build skills that will last a lifetime.","fullyFundedDate":1770177986156,"projectUrl":"project/differentiated-reading/10044036/","projectTitle":"Differentiated Reading","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Savakis","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp2517403_orig.jpg?crop=450,450,x76,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1695314637715","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/ms-savakis"},{"teacherId":3052987,"projectId":10181283,"letterContent":"The students love Raz-Kids and I can already see their fluency and confidence increasing! Every morning during center time, there is a race to get the iPads so they can log in. They absolutely love earning \"stars\" for reading books and customizing their little robot avatars. It has turned reading from a task they have to do into a game they want to play. Your generosity has truly sparked a love for literacy in these young learners. The buzz of excitement in our room during reading time is entirely thanks to your support. We are so incredibly grateful for your kindness and investment in our classroom.","fullyFundedDate":1775576823962,"projectUrl":"project/raz-kids-where-reading-is-fun/10181283/","projectTitle":"Raz Kids: Where Reading Is Fun!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Kemerling","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3052987_orig.png?crop=272,272,x9,y11&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1655462591318","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/mrs-kemerling"},{"teacherId":9245118,"projectId":9674664,"letterContent":"When word got out across the building that our Donors Choose project was fully funded, the excitement wasn't just contained to one room, it spread through every single grade from Kindergarten to Fifth! Teachers and students alike were thrilled to know that high-quality, engaging science investigations were headed their way. \r\n\r\nBringing Mystery Science to our entire K–5 community has completely transformed how our school approaches STEM. Because the lessons are beautifully tailored to every developmental stage, the impact is visible in every single hallway. In Kindergarten and 1st Grade our youngest learners are using the hands-on mysteries to spark their natural curiosity, learning how to observe the world around them like real scientists. In 2nd and 3rd Grade students are collaborating in teams, using the physical materials to test hypotheses and figure out the \"why\" behind how things work. Our upper elementary students are digging into deeper critical thinking, tracking data, and connecting their hands-on experiments to real-world phenomena.\r\n\r\nInstead of science being a subject they just read about, it has become a vibrant, shared experience across all six grade levels. You didn't just fund a lesson plan, you sparked a massive culture of curiosity, inquiry, and discovery for hundreds of students. Thank you for investing in our entire school community!","fullyFundedDate":1758143722062,"projectUrl":"project/empowering-young-scientists-with-mystery/9674664/","projectTitle":"Empowering Young Scientists With Mystery Science","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Dobbins","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9245118_orig.png?crop=363,363,x0,y4&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1693962134951","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9245118"},{"teacherId":9245118,"projectId":10157302,"letterContent":"When the boxes finally arrived and we set up the new stools around our small group table, my students' faces completely lit up. They were incredibly excited to have a dedicated small group area.\r\n\r\nThese stools have completely changed the dynamic of our small group time. Before they arrived, we were constantly dragging mismatched chairs over, which was noisy and disrupted the flow of our lessons. Now, transitioning to the small group table is seamless and fast. The stools create a cozy, defined, and focused environment where my students feel comfortable taking risks with their learning. During a recent intensive literacy and decoding lesson, I noticed that the physical setup allowed everyone to easily see the shared materials, collaborate on word-building, and stay locked into the activity without the usual background distractions.\r\n\r\nThese stools will continue to be the epicenter of our daily targeted instruction, giving students a comfortable, structured space to practice reading and math strategies and receive the immediate feedback they need. Thank you so much for investing in our classroom comfort and focus, your generosity has truly elevated our daily learning routine!","fullyFundedDate":1775785535399,"projectUrl":"project/pull-up-a-stool-for-success/10157302/","projectTitle":"Pull Up a Stool for Success","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Dobbins","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9245118_orig.png?crop=363,363,x0,y4&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1693962134951","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9245118"},{"teacherId":9007143,"projectId":9993500,"letterContent":"The arrival of our \"Gumball Goals\" machine was met with pure, unadulterated joy! When I first unveiled the machine and the colorful collection of miniature toys, the room filled with gasps and \"whoas.\" This resource has completely transformed the energy around our daily objectives; instead of seeing goals as \"work,\" my first graders now see them as a thrilling challenge. The physical presence of the gumball machine serves as a constant, colorful reminder of what they are working toward, making our classroom feel like a place where hard work is celebrated in the most fun way possible.\r\n\r\nLooking ahead, we are using this momentum to transition into our \"Kindness Counts\" initiative. Our next step is to use the Gumball Goals machine to reward collective classroom behavior, such as helping a peer without being asked or keeping our classroom library tidy. Your generosity has provided more than just rewards; you've given us a powerful tool for motivation that teaches these young learners that setting a goal and sticking to it leads to wonderful results. Thank you for making our classroom successes so much sweeter!","fullyFundedDate":1769447149081,"projectUrl":"project/gumball-goal-rewards-for-hard-workers/9993500/","projectTitle":"Gumball Goal Rewards for Hard Workers!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Peterlin","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9007143_orig.jpg?crop=2036,2036,x443,y554&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1686692184578","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9007143"},{"teacherId":10004275,"projectId":10036936,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for donating earlier this year to enhance the play in our block area with new exciting toys! The children have loved playing with the new cars, buildings, and simple machines! The block area continues to be a favorite spot in our classroom, and these new additions have only increased the interest! These materials have allowed students to dig deeper into their play, and we couldn't have gotten them without your support. Thank you so much for supporting our youngest students, and for recognizing the benefits our block area provides for their learning!","fullyFundedDate":1768751587928,"projectUrl":"project/enhancing-play-in-our-block-area/10036936/","projectTitle":"Enhancing Play in Our Block Area","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Maddy","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-8_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10004275"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_5420","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":765,"numTeachers":38,"percentFrplEligible":55,"percentAsian":15,"percentBlack":5,"percentWhite":35,"percentIndigenous":1,"percentLatinx":36,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","percentHawaiianImputed":0,"percentMultiracialImputed":5,"gradesServed":"Pre-K - 8","studentTeacherRatio":"20.1:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"URBAN","ncesMetroType":"CITY_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":68.8,"schoolId":5420,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Budlong Elementary School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Budlong Elementary School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/illinois/chicago-public-school-district-299/budlong-elementary-school/5420"}