{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"Western Hills Elementary School","outOfStateSupporters":33.3,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":9128346,"projectId":9810212,"letterContent":"MusicPlay Online has been a cornerstone of my music classroom for years, and it never stops delivering. My students use it every single day, and the engagement level it brings is something I still look forward to watching — even after all this time. The platform has an incredible library that covers every grade level, from folk songs and movement activities for my youngest learners to more complex pieces that really challenge my older students. What makes it so effective is that it doesn't just play music — it actively teaches. Visual cues, on-screen lyrics, notation work, and movement are all built right in, and students are pulled into the lesson before they even realize it's happening. For students who tend to hang back or struggle with confidence, having that on-screen support is genuinely transformative. Watching a shy kid finally sing out loud because they feel safe following along — that moment never gets old, no matter how many times I've seen it.\r\nThe cultural diversity throughout the platform is something I lean into heavily throughout the year. We explore holidays, traditions, and folk songs from all over the world, and the conversations that come out of those lessons are some of the richest we have all year. Kids start making personal connections, asking real questions, and sharing things about their own families and backgrounds that might never have come up otherwise. It also bridges beautifully into hands-on instrument playing — we'll learn a song through MusicPlay and then pick up the xylophones, hand drums, or recorders and take it further. That flow from listening to singing to actually performing on an instrument is one of the most effective teaching tools I have, and MusicPlay makes it seamless.\r\nThis year, like every year, we are also putting on a campus-wide musical performance in our school theatre using one of MusicPlay's full productions. Students from all over campus come together to learn the songs, rehearse the scenes, and perform on a real stage in front of their families and community. For many of these kids, this is one of the highlights of their entire school year — and for some, it is their first time ever performing in a theatre. The energy, the pride, and the sense of accomplishment that fills that room on performance night is something I never take for granted. MusicPlay has been the backbone of that tradition for years, and it is a testament to just how powerful this resource is — not just as a daily classroom tool, but as something that brings our entire school community together through music. Thank you for continuing to make that possible.","fullyFundedDate":1769177339481,"projectUrl":"project/ms-julies-class-uses-musicplay-online/9810212/","projectTitle":"Ms. Julie's Class uses Musicplay Online!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Julie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-4_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9128346"},{"teacherId":9128346,"projectId":9520082,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for supporting this project. As soon as the materials arrived, my students were eager to dive in. Every grade level has now had a chance to explore the sensors, Micro:bits, and imagiCharms, and it has added an entirely new layer of excitement to our music lessons. Even my youngest students jumped right into experimenting with cause and effect using the distance sensors, and it was amazing to watch how quickly they connected the idea of movement to sound.\r\n\r\nRight now, my older students are in the middle of building their coded instruments, which is what you'll see in the photos. They've been testing different materials with conductive tape, writing code to trigger sounds, and figuring out how to make their designs actually playable. There have been lots of \"try it again\" moments, but the pride they feel when their circuits finally work is worth every bit of troubleshooting. \r\n\r\nOur next steps involve refining these instruments and preparing to share them with the school community. Students will also be working on creating pixel‑art visuals with the imagi Charms to accompany their musical creations. Your support has made it possible for them to learn music, engineering, and problem‑solving all at once, and the confidence they're gaining has been incredible to see.\r\n\r\nThank you again for making this project a reality for our students.","fullyFundedDate":1760693708257,"projectUrl":"project/from-circuits-to-symphonies-engineerin/9520082/","projectTitle":"From Circuits to Symphonies: Engineering Musical Instruments with Elementary Students","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Julie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-4_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9128346"},{"teacherId":9128346,"projectId":9810352,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for supporting this project. The imagi Charms are a much added excitement to our music classroom. It was fun to see their faces when telling them we will be learning the coding language Python to be able to create pixel art connected to musical concepts. \r\n\r\nOne of my favorite moments so far was watching a small group of my 3rd graders successfully code an animated picture that moved to the beat of a song they picked. This also opened discussions about how programmers think, how musicians think, and where those two worlds meet. It was such a natural moment of cross‑disciplinary learning. \r\n\r\nYounger students have also been jumping in, creating simple images tied to how specific music makes them feel by coding different emoji faces.\r\n\r\nThe storage unit has been a huge help as well. Having a designated, organized space for the imagi Charms and accessories means we can get started quickly, keep materials safe, and make sure every grade level has access. Our next steps involve connecting the pixel art to larger musical compositions and letting students design visuals that \"perform\" alongside the music they create or analyze. It's been incredible to see how confident and creative they're becoming, and your support made it \r\npossible.\r\n\r\nThank you for giving our students such a meaningful and modern way to experience music and coding.","fullyFundedDate":1760693724878,"projectUrl":"project/musical-pixels-python-programming-meets/9810352/","projectTitle":"Musical Pixels: Python Programming Meets Elementary Music","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Julie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-4_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9128346"},{"teacherId":9128346,"projectId":9427522,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generous support of our music classroom! The imagi charms have truly been a blessing for my students. We've been using them during enrichment classes to help kids code musical concepts in a hands-on way. Students are able to code to show note names and create whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes. We match the charm colors to our Boomwhackers' chroma color system, which really helps them see the connection between what they're building and what they're playing. \r\n\r\nThe excitement when we first received the materials was contagious! The best part for my students was realizing we finally had enough imagi charms for everyone to work on their own or in pairs instead of sharing just one set for the whole class. I heard non stop \"When can we use these again?\" and \"Ms. Julie Look!!\" \"I'm going to code___!\" The instant picture that appears when they code correctly is magical to watch them see it and it keeps them motivated to keep trying and experimenting with different patterns.\r\n\r\nWe're continuing to build on what we've started by creating more complex rhythm patterns,and we will be learning how to use these within video's we create surrounding musical concepts, composers, and even coding their own short rhythmic patterns/melodies. \r\n\r\n What really excites me is that even my first and second graders are learning basic coding concepts while they're learning music fundamentals. They don't even realize they're developing important 21st century skills because they're having so much fun! Your generosity has made it possible to bring this kind of creative, hands-on learning to my classroom, and it means the world to us. Thank you for believing in my students and supporting music education! Thank you again!","fullyFundedDate":1758562738005,"projectUrl":"project/from-notes-to-pixels-coding-the-future/9427522/","projectTitle":"From Notes to Pixels: Coding the Future of Music Education With imagi Charms","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Julie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-4_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9128346"},{"teacherId":2228062,"projectId":9044190,"letterContent":"Thank you so much to all the donors for supporting my projects. I appreciate your generosity. My students are overjoyed with all of the items that we are getting. Every time a box is delivered to our classroom they're like open it and we put it to use right away. I am unbelievably grateful to have donors like you to support students, schools and teachers. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have the best job in the world. The students thank you. Thank you for making all of my students dreams come true and they're learning fun and exciting. 🎉🎉🎉❤️❤️❤️❤️🎉🎉🎉\r\n\r\nWith gratitude,\r\nMrs. Adauto","fullyFundedDate":1744821160954,"projectUrl":"project/colored-printer/9044190/","projectTitle":"Colored Printer!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Adauto","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-2_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/2228062"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_11711","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":390,"numTeachers":34,"percentFrplEligible":77,"percentAsian":1,"percentBlack":0,"percentWhite":9,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":86,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","gradesServed":"Pre-K - 5","studentTeacherRatio":"11.5:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"URBAN","ncesMetroType":"CITY_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":66.7,"schoolId":11711,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Western Hills Elementary School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Western Hills Elementary School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/texas/el-paso-independent-school-district/western-hills-elementary-school/11711"}