Donors Choose: Thank you
~ By Colette
Last December I blogged about my experiences with DonorsChoose.org. Donors Choose is a non-profit organization that helps match donors with individual teachers and classrooms to fund classroom projects. For me, a highlight of the Donors Choose process is the “thank you” notes from both the teacher and students that are sent 5 to 6 months after a project is completely funded. I recently received the thank you notes from the project I contributed to last December. These notes let me see how the project I helped fund has progressed and grown.
The project I had selected was called, “Pass the Light, Please.” It purchased a Flip Video Camera and G.P.S. unit for a classroom in North Carolina. The purpose was to allow students to document their rich local culture on a web site. The students used the video camera to document a local bluegrass musician playing music at a fish fry, Grandfather Mountain, and local town murals.
But the project didn’t stop there. Using the video camera the students recorded a CO2 car competition then used the tape to analyze and compare the qualities of a good design versus a poor design; they recorded the trajectory of catapults and trebuchets that they had designed and built; and they recorded mock commercials in order to learn about communication and persuasion techniques.
The video camera is also being used by after-school clubs, including the Technology Student Association, which competed in two video production events at the state level (see The Greene Mile video below). Additionally, the video camera will be taken to a national Animatronics competition, where students will use it to videotape the audience’s reactions to their project, so they can see what they need to modify.
One great component of this project is how it has been nationally and internationally supported. While this classroom is located in North Carolina, donors came from Oregon, Arizona, California, and North Carolina, not to mention the financial support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Additionally, the teacher connected with a web site based in Europe which was so excited about her students’ project that they provided free server space and technical support.
With the current economic crisis that the country is currently facing, I know that I have shifted many of my financial donations to help people cover their basic needs. I have increased the amount of money that I contribute to our local food relief organizations, and last winter I donated – for the first time – to our local electric company to help people pay their heating bills. The thank you letters I received from the youth and their teacher in North Carolina is an excellent reminder to me that youth still need enriching experiences to nourish their minds as well as their bodies .
