{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"West Lowndes Elementary School","outOfStateSupporters":54.5,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":8912513,"projectId":10428101,"letterContent":"Dear Generous Donors,\r\n\r\nYour generosity has brought so much more than books and learning materials into our classroom—you have brought possibility, belonging, confidence, and joy. Through Representation Matters: Building Confident Readers & Fearless Mathematicians, our students are discovering that the people in the books they read can look like them, come from communities like theirs, face challenges they recognize, and still dream boldly and accomplish extraordinary things. There is something incredibly powerful about watching a child recognize a piece of themselves in a story. These books have opened the door to meaningful conversations about character, perseverance, problem-solving, point of view, making connections, drawing conclusions, and using evidence from a text to support our thinking. Most importantly, they are helping our students understand that their own stories, ideas, voices, and dreams matter too.\r\n\r\nReading in our classroom is becoming an experience of discovery rather than simply an assignment. Students read independently, share books with classmates, discuss characters and their choices, make connections between stories and their own lives, and practice expressing what they think and why. Some of the most meaningful moments are the quiet ones—a student lingering over a page, eagerly showing a classmate something they discovered, or choosing to keep reading when the required reading time has already ended. Those moments tell us that we are developing more than reading skills; we are developing readers. And as we connect literacy with mathematics, our students are also learning that being a \"math person\" isn't something you are born knowing how to do. Mathematicians wonder, make mistakes, try different strategies, explain their reasoning, persevere, and try again. We are working to replace \"I can't do this\" with \"I haven't figured it out yet.\"\r\n\r\nThank you for believing in our students enough to invest in them. Your gifts have helped us create a classroom where children can see themselves represented, feel safe taking academic risks, and begin imagining possibilities for their futures that may once have seemed out of reach. Every book opened, every difficult problem attempted, every hand raised with newfound confidence, and every child who begins to think \"Maybe I can do this\" is part of the impact you have made. We hope you know that your generosity reaches far beyond the materials you provided. You have helped us tell our students: You belong here. You are capable. Your voice matters. You can be a reader. You can be a mathematician. And there is no limit to what you can become. For that extraordinary gift, we are deeply and sincerely grateful.\r\n\r\nWith heartfelt appreciation,\r\n\r\nMrs. Darla Poutoa & Her Fearless Readers and Mathematicians\r\nWest Lowndes Elementary School","fullyFundedDate":1787171708727,"projectUrl":"project/representation-matters-building-confide/10428101/","projectTitle":"Representation Matters: Building Confident Readers & Fearless Mathematicians","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Poutoa","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8912513_orig.jpg?crop=248,248,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1784773925654","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/mrspoutoa"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_17400","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":284,"numTeachers":22,"percentFrplEligible":95,"percentAsian":0,"percentBlack":97,"percentWhite":1,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":1,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","percentHawaiianImputed":0,"percentMultiracialImputed":0,"gradesServed":"Pre-K - 6","studentTeacherRatio":"12.9:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"TOWN","ncesMetroType":"RURAL_DISTANT"},"inStateSupporters":45.5,"schoolId":17400,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about West Lowndes Elementary School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"West Lowndes Elementary School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/mississippi/lowndes-county-school-district/west-lowndes-elementary-school/17400"}