summer_18

CELEBRATING

SUMMER 2018 CEA ADVISOR 9

Kristine Emond, East Hartford High School | YA Literature for Everyone Library media specialist Kristine Emond created two projects funded through DonorsChoose, both with the goal of expanding young adult literature options at her school. “My first project was for YA books written in Spanish to fill a need we had in our high school library to have books that represented all our students. My second project, funded by Ripple’s #BestSchoolDay donation, was one where I received 35 copies of a new YA book called Damselfly , written by a Connecticut author, Chandra Prasad. I created a book group, distributed the books to students, and invited the author to come meet with our students. My project was called Teens Read + Author Visits = Reading Rocks. I was excited about this amazing opportunity, since many of our students would not have the personal funds to purchase her book for themselves. Thanks to Ripple flash-funding the entire DonorsChoose website, I received funding for all 35 copies of Ms. Prasad’s book. Ali Damon Kirchberger, Hopeville School, Waterbury | Responsive Classroom “The project I had funded was for five large round tables, a 6’ x 8’ world map rug, 30 book bins, and a mailbox system,” says Waterbury fifth-grade teacher Ali Kirchberger. “This will help my classroom space become more family-friendly and more of a responsive classroom— something that we will implement next year, to align closely with our district initiative of social emotional learning. One major initiative of social emotional learning is to give students lots of opportunities to work in partnerships or small groups.” The round tables will replace the individual student desks in Kirchberger’s classroom, she explains. “Having students sit at tables will help foster an environment in which they work collaboratively and feel a sense of family. A few other classrooms in my school are set up this way, and while I hear that it will be an adjustment, it will help us be a responsive classroom. There will still be a few separate desks in my

Prasad and student Stephanie Sesenu (above). Students attending the author talk hold up their copies of Damselfly (below).

Connecticut author Chandra Prasad presents to a book group at East Hartford High School.

“Ms. Prasad spoke about what influenced her to write the story, gave us details about her story’s characters, and told us what it was like being a writer and how to get a book published. Students asked great questions, interacted with her, and were able to personally meet her and get their books autographed. I was proud and pleased to get them interested and excited about reading, while giving them the chance to add a new book to their own libraries that now had a personal connection.”

NBC and Telemundo Connecticut have set up a DonorsChoose.org giving page, Supporting Our Schools, for the month of July, just for Connecticut’s public school teachers. Visit their page and add your own project!

room just in case a student or two from time to time needs to sit out from a group. The rug will create an area for our morning meetings.” Kirchberger highlights American history and world events in her classroom and says the new rug will facilitate class conversations “and offer us another place to look when involved in lessons of geography.” Students currently store their notebooks, folders, and pencils in their desks, so the bins—which will be organized on a bookshelf and easy for students to take down and transport to their seats—will solve the storage problem. “Each student will be given a bin,” Kirchberger says. As for the mailbox system, she says, “We send home Friday folders. Throughout the week, student work and flyers are put into mailboxes. Each student has one. On Fridays, students clear them out and bring everything home. It’s an organizational system that works well for our school. Mine needed a major upgrade!”