(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Inoculation Project 7/16/2023: Books in Texas, Science in Oklahoma [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-07-16 This week, we’re helping a Houston elementary-school librarian get some new books, and a Tulsa teacher get his elementary students the science equipment his school cannot buy. We hope that readers who support quality public school education will help by sharing or supporting our featured projects. The Inoculation Project is an ongoing, volunteer effort to crowdfund science, math, and literacy projects for red-state public schools in low-income neighborhoods. As always, our conduit is DonorsChoose, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that facilitates tax-deductible donations to specific, vetted projects in public schools. This was project #2 last week — we did so well that this week, it moves up here! An elementary-school librarian in Houston needs some classic fantasy books for her students. PROJECT #1 Project: Read and Celebrate Fairy Tales That Inspire Students Resources: Help me give my students access to the world's most popular fairy tales to read and learn life lessons. Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households. Location: Billy Reagan K-8 Education Center, Houston, Texas Total: $324.29 Still Needed: $ 197.29 $122.29 Project description by Mrs. Payne: I am a new librarian and love helping kids find joy in reading and writing. My students live in a lower-income area and deserve to participate in activities that will allow them to be better readers and writers. My students want to also be engaged from the time they enter the library and when they leave. My students are learning to understand and appreciate fairy tales and their significance around the world. I will use the world's most popular fairy tales to help students understand what can be learned from reading fairy tales. Students will use the books "Peter and Wendy", "The Wind in the Willows", "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", and "The Tailor of Gloucester" to appreciate the differences in the world around us and understand how different fairytales and stories allow us to learn life lessons. They will also use Under Water Math to discuss math in stories. DONATE HERE Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference! The Wind in the Willows is one of the requested books. This is the theme from the 1983 film, while the lyrics, sung by Ralph McTell, originated with the 2010 TV series. x YouTube Video The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is another requested book. The 1939 film version gets lots of exposure, so I picked a song from the 1978 film version of the Broadway musical The Wiz. Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow do some great dancing! x x YouTube Video The ever-alert Eastern Bluebird spotted this project for us, and it really is exactly what we like to fund here: Mr. Blevins teaches in a Tulsa, Oklahoma elementary school where there is virtually no funding for science education. He had me at his pull quote, “Science is the backbone to any education.” It’s a very ambitious project, but I think we can do it, in part by drawing the interest of other donors, once we make some progress. And if it turns out we can’t, which has not happened in a long time, you know that DonorsChoose will return our donations to be used for some other project. But let’s not borrow trouble — I’m excited to have some kids in Oklahoma learn about science! PROJECT #2 Project: Environmental Science For The Win Resources: Help me give my students an introduction to environmental science that would otherwise not be possible. Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households. Location: McClure Elementary School, Tulsa, Oklahoma Total: $1,138.54 Still Needed: $ 988.54 $933.54 Project description by Mr. Blevins: My students show a keen interest in environment sciences and biology but the funding is just not there. Microscopes, solar kit, and other products will ensure my students continue their curiosity in this field while building a stronger foundation for future studies. Science is the backbone to any education. I am excited to fund this project and show my students how much more there is to science than the little amount of curriculum that we get to during the year because of Math and Reading. I want my students to understand the world and renewable energy so that future generations have a better grasp on what is happening in the scientific community and world. DONATE HERE Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference! One of the items requested is several of these little kits whose parts can be used to build six different miniature solar-powered devices. x x YouTube Video Another is some compound microscopes, ably explained here by the Amoeba Sisters. x x YouTube Video Our main project from last week was completed, with a big assist from our readers! Project #1, Make Our Grow Lab Come to Life!: Mrs. Collins teaches second grade in Youngstown, Ohio, and she’s been trying to address the needs of her full-inclusion class in a school with very few financial resources. She was specifically seeking to do a “grow lab” project. She writes: Thank you so much for donating and helping to fully fund this project. My grow lab was one of the first items I got funded through DonorsChoose five years ago and being able to get the materials needed yearly helps me continue to utilize it and teach so many science and mathematics lessons with. I’m so excited for the new year and to teach my students all about plants, life cycles, and measurement! They get so excited when they see their seeds go from seed to flower. Thank you so very much! DonorsChoose has developed the designation Equity Focus Schools to describe some schools that submit projects. They meet two criteria: at least 50% of students are Black, Latinx, Native American, Pacific Islander, or multiracial, and at least 50% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, the standard measure for school economic need. You can read more at the link about their efforts to address the longstanding inequity in education. Founded in 2009, The Inoculation Project combats the anti-science, anti-education push in conservative America by funding science, math, and literacy projects in red-state public school classrooms and libraries. Our conduit is DonorsChoose, a crowdfunding charity founded in 2000 and highly rated by both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau. Every Sunday, we focus on helping to fund projects in neighborhood public schools where the overwhelming majority of students come from low-income households. We welcome everyone who supports public school education — no money is required! Finally, here’s our list of successfully funded projects — our series total is 1044! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/16/2181489/-The-Inoculation-Project-7-16-2023-Books-in-Texas-Science-in-Oklahoma Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/