{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck","outOfStateSupporters":27.4,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":10575758,"projectId":10642873,"letterContent":"Thank you once again for your incredibly generous donation to our classroom. When the package arrived at MS 217Q this morning, my sixth graders were absolutely thrilled. The beautiful water cycle poster and the detailed 3D diorama model immediately captured their attention, transforming a standard science lesson into an exciting, immersive experience. Providing our students with these high-quality, physical visualizations shows them that their education is valued, and it perfectly aligns with our ongoing initiative of \"Making Science Thinking Visible and Hands-On.\"\r\n\r\nWhen we conceptualized our hands-on science initiative this September, our primary goal was to bridge the gap between abstract textbook concepts and concrete reality. The continuous movement of water through the Earth and atmosphere—while fundamental to environmental science—can sometimes feel elusive and theoretical when students are only looking at flat textbook pages. However, translating that cycle into something they can truly examine requires the right classroom materials. Your contribution has provided exactly that. The moment we unboxed the model, the students gathered around it, tracing the pathways of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation with their own hands. They weren't just reading about water vapor; they were physically mapping its journey over the diorama's varied terrain, from mountain peaks down to the simulated ocean.","fullyFundedDate":1789650799110,"projectUrl":"project/the-water-cycle-for-all/10642873/","projectTitle":"The Water Cycle for All!","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. R","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10575758_orig.jpg?crop=1248,1248,x298,y89&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1785950922029","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10575758"},{"teacherId":10575758,"projectId":10635009,"letterContent":"Thank you again for the resources, my students saw the package and are so excited to start working with this, it shows great initiative on their part and this will undoubtedly allow us to show that we are a great Green Magnet school indeed. \r\n\r\nAs a dedicated Green Magnet program, our primary goal was to foster a generation of environmentally conscious, forward-thinking problem solvers. We wanted our curriculum to step out of the textbook and into the real world. However, translating that ambitious vision into daily classroom practice requires more than just passion; it requires the right materials. Your contribution has bridged that gap beautifully. The moment we opened the boxes, the students began brainstorming projects, forming committees, and discussing how they could immediately implement these new tools into our upcoming sustainability fair. They weren't just looking at supplies; they were looking at possibilities.\r\n\r\nThe sheer initiative these young learners are demonstrating is nothing short of inspiring. Instead of waiting for instruction, they are proactively researching how to set up the new testing kits, how to optimize our classroom's energy monitoring, and how to track the data we will soon be collecting. This level of self-directed learning is the cornerstone of our educational philosophy. It empowers them to take ownership of their education and, more importantly, ownership of their environmental footprint. They are already drafting proposals for campus-wide conservation initiatives that rely heavily on the resources you so graciously provided.","fullyFundedDate":1789500535399,"projectUrl":"project/renewable-energy-for-all/10635009/","projectTitle":"Renewable Energy for All!","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. R","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10575758_orig.jpg?crop=1248,1248,x298,y89&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1785950922029","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10575758"},{"teacherId":10575758,"projectId":10635142,"letterContent":"Thank you for funding Solar Water Generation for All! The Horizon solar hydrogen kits have arrived, and I want you to know exactly what you've put into my students' hands.\r\n\r\nI teach sixth-grade science at a public middle school in New York City, and I brought one of the kits in still shrink-wrapped so my students could see it before I did. That was the right call. The box shows a solar panel, a water tank, two gas cylinders, and a tiny fan, and the first thing my students wanted to know was whether the panel really runs the whole thing or whether there was a battery hidden somewhere. Several of them did not believe me. One asked, half-joking, whether we were making rocket fuel. I told them they'd find out, and I have not had that much attention on a closed box all year.\r\n\r\nHere's what makes this equipment worth so much to a science teacher. The kit uses sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, collects both gases in clear cylinders you can watch fill in real time, and then runs those gases back through a fuel cell to spin a fan. Students don't take my word for what water is made of — they watch the hydrogen cylinder fill up to roughly twice the volume of the oxygen cylinder, and they figure out for themselves why the formula is H2O. Energy transformation stops being a vocabulary list and becomes a chain they can point to with a finger: sun, to electricity, to chemical fuel, to a spinning blade.\r\n\r\nThat visibility matters enormously for my classes. Many of my students are still learning English, and many have IEPs. Watching a water level drop and gas bubbles rise requires no reading level at all. Every student gets the same first-hand evidence, and then we work on putting it into words — which is a much fairer order of operations than asking them to read about something they've never seen.","fullyFundedDate":1789500534303,"projectUrl":"project/solar-water-generation-for-all/10635142/","projectTitle":"Solar Water Generation for All!","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. R","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10575758_orig.jpg?crop=1248,1248,x298,y89&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1785950922029","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10575758"},{"teacherId":10575758,"projectId":10609130,"letterContent":"Thank you for funding pH Labs for All! I'm a first-year science teacher at a public middle school in New York City, and because of you, about ninety sixth graders have now done something most of them had never done before: collected their own data with real lab equipment.\r\n\r\nWhen the materials arrived, I opened the boxes in front of my first-period class instead of quietly unpacking them at my desk. I wish you could have heard it. The first question was whether this was the kind of equipment real scientists use, and when I said yes, half the room wanted to know when they'd get to hold one. For a lot of my students, lab equipment has always been something you watch in a video, not something you pick up.","fullyFundedDate":1789500533738,"projectUrl":"project/ph-labs-for-all/10609130/","projectTitle":"pH Labs for All!","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. R","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10575758_orig.jpg?crop=1248,1248,x298,y89&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1785950922029","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10575758"},{"teacherId":10575758,"projectId":10604598,"letterContent":"Now my students can draw the different phases of the water cycle and show dehydration in organisms using these coloring pencils in a way that shows them the concept well. \r\n\r\nMy classroom is also less susceptible to disruptions from students getting up and sharpening their pencils as they have mechanical pencils that allow them to stay focused on the task at hand. Thank you so much for all of this. I think that in the future we will all be able to show more of the work we are doing in this classroom thanks to these items.","fullyFundedDate":1788912534783,"projectUrl":"project/pencils-for-all/10604598/","projectTitle":"Pencils for All!","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. R","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10575758_orig.jpg?crop=1248,1248,x298,y89&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1785950922029","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10575758"},{"teacherId":10575758,"projectId":10586662,"letterContent":"When the boxes for \"Making Science Thinking Visible and Hands-On\" arrived in our Queens classroom, my 6th graders were absolutely buzzing with excitement. Unpacking the giant post-it sheets and the class set of small whiteboards brought immediate cheers. They realized right away that these weren't just standard school supplies, but blank canvases for their own ideas. Having these interactive resources has completely transformed our learning environment, showing these young scientists that their thoughts and problem-solving skills are truly valued.\r\n\r\nWe immediately put these new tools to work to make our scientific thinking visible to the whole room. During a recent lesson, instead of just answering questions on paper, the students used the small whiteboards to quickly sketch their hypotheses and hold them up to show their learning in real-time. The real magic happened when we broke into groups using the giant post-it sheets. One unforgettable moment occurred when a typically quiet group of students collaborated to draw a massive, detailed poster explaining their experiment, proudly presenting their collaborative work to the rest of the class. Because they could visually map out their thoughts on such a large scale, they were able to confidently explain complex processes in their own words.\r\n\r\nAs we move forward, the students are taking their learning even further. Our next step is to use the giant post-its for a \"gallery walk\" project, where each group will design a large-scale poster illustrating their own independent experiments, and students will use their small whiteboards to jot down peer feedback as they tour the room. Your generosity has not only provided essential tools but has fundamentally changed how my students communicate and collaborate in STEM. Thank you for believing in my students and giving them the space to bring their scientific thinking to life.","fullyFundedDate":1788651936225,"projectUrl":"project/making-science-thinking-visible-and-hand/10586662/","projectTitle":"Making Science Thinking Visible and Hands-On","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. R","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10575758_orig.jpg?crop=1248,1248,x298,y89&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1785950922029","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10575758"},{"teacherId":9194795,"projectId":9778545,"letterContent":"This project has brought a hands on experience for my computer science students. We had so much fun learning new vocabulary words and creating obstacle courses for our mini golf ball robots. This was just one lesson that I created after receiving the mini sphero balls. They are shaped like a golf ball and can easily navigate obstacle courses. \r\n\r\nStudents spent time using chip boards to create tunnels and ramps that would allow the mini sphero ball to travel using the sphero edu app. This donation brought out creativity in my students and they had so much fun. It allowed the students to be interacting with the tech but also have independence in what they create.\r\n\r\nWe are so grateful and thankful for your contribution to our 7th grade computer science classroom! This donation will make an impact not only today but for years to come in my classroom!","fullyFundedDate":1764606106333,"projectUrl":"project/learning-to-code-in-computer-science/9778545/","projectTitle":"Learning to Code in Computer Science","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Kalogeropoulos","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9194795_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1692151872266","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9194795"},{"teacherId":8557769,"projectId":9537261,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for generosity! Donating to our classroom project has made such an improvement to our learning environment. \r\n\r\nYour donation provided us with wipes and swiffer pads to ensure that our classroom is clean and we are able to stay healthy. Especially during this time of year, germs are everywhere!\r\n\r\nThe best part of this project was window decals to help block the very bright sun that shines into our classroom in the morning big, making it almost impossible to see the Promethean board for morning lessons. We live the sun and in the winter, the vitamin D is so important to raise our mood, and now we no longer have to live with our shades closed! Thank you so much!\r\n\r\nSpecial thanks to the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation for your generosity! Our project would not have been completely funded without your donation at the eleventh hour!","fullyFundedDate":1758898961497,"projectUrl":"project/let-the-sun-shine/9537261/","projectTitle":"Let the Sun Shine!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Morello","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8557769_orig.png?crop=361,361,x49,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1689940795033","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8557769"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_1019","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":1292,"numTeachers":90,"percentFrplEligible":88,"percentAsian":25,"percentBlack":12,"percentWhite":4,"percentIndigenous":3,"percentLatinx":52,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","percentHawaiianImputed":0,"percentMultiracialImputed":1,"gradesServed":"6 - 8","studentTeacherRatio":"14.4:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"URBAN","ncesMetroType":"CITY_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":72.6,"schoolId":1019,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/new-york/new-york-city-dept-of-ed/ms-217-robert-van-wyck/1019"}