Fantastic 5th Grade Class Funding!
I'm Emily McKinley and I'm a 5th grade teacher to an AMAZING group of students! Our school is in an urban school with an extremely diverse population of bright students excited to learn! My students are motivated to grow both academically and socially, but our very low public school funding was cut even smaller by 40% for this upcoming school year, all while 80% of my students come from low-income households.
As a teacher I try to integrate as much fun and excitement into my class by creating hands-on experiments and real life memories and connections! It's a proven fact that kids remember information best this way! I feel like my students shouldn't miss out because of the funding situations and that's why I'm asking for a little bit of help!
This year I want to create interactive notebooks with the students so that they can truly absorb the material. The kids will be essentially be making pop-up, pull out, hands on manipulative notebooks filled with notes and curriculum they are learning. To do this though we need basic classroom supplies like binders, paper, glue, art supplies, pencils, erasers, etc. I want to make science labs a reality instead of just talking about what we can do. For this we need enough materials for every experiment for at LEAST 30 kids at one time; ever try to buy 30 beakers, 30 tweezers, enough clay, enough solution, enough manipulative for 30 kids at a time for one day for one experiment? WOWZER! It sure adds up!! I want to be able to take them on field trips that connect them directly to the curriculum, like a tour of actual Revolutionary War sights, science museums and whale boat tours (YAY ANIMAL ADAPTAIONS!) to connect to History, Math, and Science! BUT! I want this at little to no cost to their families so that nobody has to worry about an extra expense and leaving their kid out.
I'm just out of grad school, and funded all our projects for my class last year mostly by myself; but, I wasn't able to accomplish what I wanted to with what I could afford. I want my kids to have and be the best they can be! I'm asking for help to fund these supplies for experiments and classroom supplies their families don't have the money for, and the lifetime experiences they could have because I honestly just don't have enough to do this for all 30 kids in my class, as much as I'd love to be able to!! These students need to know that they are loved, that they ARE somebody in this world who can accomplish great things, and that no matter their skin color, background, and past mistakes, they can grow into exceptional people who make a positive difference in the world!
Through out the year I would love to keep you updated on all the things we do, all the supplies you would help these kids have, and the awesome projects we accomplish!!
