Mrs. Stacy Vensko, third grade teacher, received funding for chapter books for her classroom reading library. Because of the high interest in this type of book, Vensko needed to have a variety of stories on different reading levels to reach all of her students. Vensko began this project with her own money, and she was able to secure more than 60 books from 11 different authors thanks to the crowd funding source, DonorsChoose.org.
Mrs. Adrienne Day, elementary art teacher, also recently had success with DonorsChoose.org, receiving over $700 in donations to support the cost of supplies for a school-wide project called “Pinwheels for Peace.” This initiative invites students of all ages to think about the idea of peace as it applies to their lives, their school, their communities, and the world around them. The theme is then used as a visual arts prompt as each child makes a pinwheel to celebrate the International Day of Peace on September 21. Pinwheels will be displayed throughout the community, and the unit has been extended to the other elementary classrooms as a language arts project.