From frozen frogs to scanners, teachers at Monticello Middle School were able to get classroom materials through an online resource that connects donors to classrooms projects.

Donors Choose.org allows teachers from all over the U.S. to post requests for materials for classroom projects.

Monticello Middle School teachers got the opportunity to post items for classroom projects after representatives from the insurance company, Horace Mann, contacted Principal Jeanne Handley and asked if they could come give a presentation to the teachers about Donors Choose. Horace Mann has partnered with Donors Choose and is a national sponsor of the program. After telling the teachers about the program, they came back and worked with them individually to get project proposals uploaded to the Donors Choose site.

“I knew nothing about this opportunity until Horace Mann came to our school during an in-school inservice day,” said Andrea Bailey, who teaches 6th grade at the middle school.
She said the set-up process was simple.

For some of the teachers who submitted proposals, they had funding within a couple of weeks, although it took nearly a month for some. Bailey said she was proactive about letting people know she was looking for funding through Donors Choose. She was looking for funding for an iPod dock, a speaker system for her iPod, so she could use music in the classroom, tying music in with some of the writing projects.
“For a week or so, my project wasn’t getting any hits, so I started posting on my Facebook page,” she said. “Every day, someone new would donate. I would post who donated and thank them and tell the Facebook world why that donor valued music in the classroom. This got the ball rolling, and soon with the help of my neighbors, college friends, and family, my project was funded within that week. I knew who donated because Donor’s Choose would email me with each donation with a message from the Donor.”
Susanna Bressner, the 7th grade language arts teacher requested funding for a multi-function printer that allowed students to scan photos for a timeline stories the students did on someone special they knew who was older than age 50. She and Melanie Stripens team-teach the classes. The project involved interviewing, researching and gathering information that was compiled into a timeline story on PowerPoint they presented to their classmates. The slides from the presentation were printed and bound into a book that the students gave the subjects of their work at a reception in December.

“There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the family members tear up and hug their 7th-grader, proud of their hard work,” Bressner said.
Katie Krahulec, teachers 7th grade science and wanted frozen frogs for a dissection lab for her students.

“We do a whole unit on animals then move to the human body,” Krahulec said. “By experience a frog dissection lab, we can tie the two units together.”
She said it’s usually the highlight of the year for students in science.
“I still remember my frog dissection from 7th grade,” she said. “It is a lab that students remember forever.”

Students in Jennifer Smith’s 8th grade grammar, literature and science classes were able to use a flip video camera, thanks to the Donors Choose funding she received.
The camera allows students to work on video projects in all the classes, and allows her to do video demonstration for her science class before students do a project themselves, such as an eye dissection. She also plans to use the video camera to record class demonstrations and projects for absent students to view when they return to class.

Smith has already posted another request for a digital microscope to use in the 8th grade science lab.
Marva Weisenborn requested funding for a scanner so students can scan photos for a family calendar, and for headsets that allow students to record their voices to run with PowerPoint projects.
Except for Bailey, who reached out to family and friends for donations through Donors Choose, the other teacher’s projects were funded through State Farm in Bloomington. The teachersbressner follow up with a thank you note and when the projects are completed, students will also write thank you notes and include photos of themselves and the work they did.

The teachers are also spreading the word to teachers in other schools in Monticello and teachers they know outside of Monticello that Donors Choose is a way to get funding for classroom projects.
“My mom is a teacher in the Chicago suburbs. I told her about my project and how it was funded and helped her post her own project for her classroom,” said Krahulec.

And several of them plan to post more projects for funding in the future.
“This was so easy,” said Bailey. “I would definitely do it again.”
Principal Handley was pleasantly surprised at how well Donors Choose worked.
“I really had no idea we would get them funded and completely funded so quickly,” she said of the teacher’s projects. “Sometimes it’s only a $200 or $300 item that can make a real difference in the classroom.”

The opportunity provided by Donors Choose is sparking more creativity than ever.
“It gets me excited, thinking about the different ways of delivering information or providing better opportunities for our students,” she said. “Our teachers are phenomenal here. It’s easy to sit back and say how well we’re doing here.” But many students today are learning differently than they have in the past and being able to adapt and accommodate those different learning styles means a student-centered positive learning experience, she said.

“They are finding ways to enrich strong students and reach reluctant learners,” Handley said.