First Flight Middle School in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina on DonorsChoose

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The kids far exceeded my expectations and were so eager to discuss their book each day with each other. I uploaded photos from a couple of the Book-in-a-Bag project presentations that each group completed at the end of the unit. Thank you again!","fullyFundedDate":1735654646757,"projectUrl":"project/novel-study-to-spark-book-communities/8973492/","projectTitle":"Novel Study to Spark Book Communities","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Drake","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5001614_orig.jpg?crop=576,576,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1724290462977","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/ms-tripp"},{"teacherId":5001614,"projectId":9671612,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generous donation into my classroom! I had very specific students in my mind when I wrote this project up. Every year I have a couple of students who really make it a job to get them to engage in reading. They brag about never having finished a book and to me, that simply won't do. I think of that as my number one priority by the end of the year. This year was no different. One student in particular I am thinking of is your stereotypical beach local kid. He much prefers to be fishing all day then sitting in an ELA class. At the start of the year, I noticed he had his bible during Silent Reading time and we got to talking about it as I am also a Christian. He told me he had no interest in reading anything but the Bible this year and that I should not even try. Knowing that I would have multiple opportunities this year to put new titles in front of him, I knew that I needed to play the long game and that he would have to choose a book organically. Well, sure enough, that is what happened. We were completing Nonfiction stations and one station had a pile of Nonfiction titles - a few that I had gotten from this project: Lizzie Bordon and Dopesick to name a few. The goal of the station was to get students to do a book tasting and see that Nonfiction texts could be relatable and engaging just like Fiction. This student naturally graviated to Dopesick and actually asked me if he could check it out to read as his Independent Reading Project book for the quarter. I was smiling from ear-to-ear all day! That's exactly how reading should happen for a student! Organically! Thank you for helping provide the resources to reach more students.","fullyFundedDate":1760810007810,"projectUrl":"project/readers-are-leaders/9671612/","projectTitle":"Readers Are Leaders","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Drake","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5001614_orig.jpg?crop=576,576,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1724290462977","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/ms-tripp"},{"teacherId":5001614,"projectId":8689191,"letterContent":"A reality of teaching in the modern age is that books have the tough job of fighting for the attention of Tik Tok reels and Instagram algorithms. This year I decided to make reading a requirement outside of the expectations I have had in place for years. Students are required to read (at least) four independent books this year. This is in addition to the two class novels I will teach them. Students know they have all nine weeks to read their book and I give them 15 minutes every day in class to do so. They are required to complete an Independent Reading Project at the end of each quarter to demonstrate their understanding of the novel. \r\nI knew that in order to have this requirement feel more desirable and help me reach the ultimate goal of having students become lifelong readers that I needed to keep my bookshelves stocked with the most up-to-date titles. That is where this project, and YOU came in. Thank you for your donations! 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About this school

First Flight Middle School is a town public school in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina that is part of Dare County School District. It serves 604 students in grades 6 - 8 with a student/teacher ratio of 12.6:1. Its teachers have had 9 projects funded on DonorsChoose.

Public School

Grades 6 - 8

604 Students

48 Teachers

109 Veterans Dr

Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948 View local requests

http://ffm.daretolearn.org

Direct, proactive support

Empower teachers at First Flight Middle School to request what their students need.

Give to this school

Ms. Vero, a DonorsChoose teacher for 9 years.

Kindergarten teacher at PS81 - Robert J. Christen School in Bronx, NY

First Flight Middle School Teachers on DonorsChoose

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First Flight Middle School Demographics

37%

of students receive free or reduced price lunch

Source: the National Center for Education Statistics

15%

of students are Black, Latino, Native American, or Asian

Schools in districts that mainly serve students of color receive substantially less state and local support than similar districts that serve primarily White students. Learn more about this gap, why it exists, and how you can help close it.

First Flight Middle School Support on DonorsChoose Last updated Feb 9, 2026

DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.