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The Inoculation Project 6/18/2023: Mississippi Physics, Alabama Library [1]

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Date: 2023-06-18

This week, we’re helping a Mississippi high school physics class do some green energy projects, and an Alabama elementary school library get an overhaul with plenty of new books. 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.

We have a new project this week, at a high school on a small Mississippi town north of Jackson. Mr. Azeem hopes to give his physics students some interesting green energy projects. We currently have the help of 2x matching funds from General Motors: Through investments in hands-on, immersive learning GM is working to help make STEM more equitable & accessible. We understand that addressing the unique needs of rural classrooms is critical to achieve this goal.

PROJECT #1 Project: Green Energy, Clean Energy Resources: Help me give my students clean and green energy kit for their physics class project. Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households. Location: Holmes County Central High School, Lexington, Mississippi Total: $433.55 (2x matching funds from General Motors) Still Needed: $ 333.55 $213.55 ($107 from us) Project description by Mr. Azeem: My science class students are very curious, proactive highly interested in science projects. They are always eager to know the new and innovative means of energy that could be helpful for society as the modern world is more dependent on fossil fuels like petrol, and coal that cause serious damage to our environment and climate. In order to understand the green energy and the impact of Global Warming; Windmills, solar-powered carts, and heat-operated engines will not only give a strong concept of green energy, but students will be able to make working models based on the given materials. DONATE HERE Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference! Making a flashlight battery out of pennies is part of one of the experiment kits requested. x x YouTube Video A hot-air Stirling engine kit is another of the projects. x x YouTube Video

We started a few weeks ago on this exciting and ambitious project in Alabama, to overhaul the school library of the James I. Dawson Elementary School, in Huntsville, and we’re making excellent progress! Our friend Eastern Bluebird, who found this for us, adds that the school was recently renamed to honor the late Dr, James Dawson, a very distinguished local educator and the first Black man to earn a PhD in Agriculture from Penn State (short article on the renaming). I’m sure he would be delighted to see this project going on in his school!

PROJECT #2 Project: New, Exciting Books! Resources: Help me give my students new, exciting books that foster a love of reading! Economic need: An Equity Focus School; more than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households. Location: James I. Dawson Elementary School, Huntsville, Alabama Total: $1,189.56 Still Needed: $ 373.56 $323.56 Project description by Mrs. Rodgers: Help me provide new, exciting books for my students. Studies show that the best way to foster a love of reading is offering kids a vast array of different types of books. Every kid deserves great books to read that help them love reading. New books with colorful covers call to young readers in a way that old books simply cannot. Our school library is very old, outdated, and in great need of an overhaul. You can help put thrilling books into the hands of deserving young readers! Thank you! DONATE HERE Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference! Rather than more trailers about individual books, here are a couple of quick tours of some very nice children’s libraries in city public library systems. The Children’s Library Discovery Center at the Queens Central Library has worked with awesome science museum the Exploratorium, to integrate science and STEM concepts, and hands-on learning in general, into the library experience. x YouTube Video As sort of a companion piece to the above, this is an often-funny TED Talk from a graphic designer who got involved with a library project for all New York City public schools. x x YouTube Video

Our main project from last week was completed, late in the week, with lots of help from our readers! Project #1, Digital Citizenship Through Books: Mrs. Bryant wanted her Dallas first-graders to have books to help them learn about “digital citizenship” . She writes: I am so excited to know that such wonderful people stepped up to help my students become responsible digital citizens through the awesome books you helped provide. I cannot thank each of you enough for your kindness and generosity. The books will make such a difference for my students. I cannot wait to see their faces when the books arrive, but more importantly, I cannot wait to see the excitement on their faces when they realize all these books were made possible by donors like you! Thank you again for helping to give my students the tools they need to be as successful as possible! Thank you also for supporting public school! We also had a project from the previous week that was completed so late that we didn’t get to see the teacher’s note. Let's Cultivate Our Children And Help Our Garden Grow!: Mrs. Smith teaches early elementary grades in Gulf Coast Mississippi, and she’s been hoping to start a raised-bed garden where her students can learn where food comes from and how to grow it. She writes: Thank you for your donation to our project. We are excited to help cultivate our students learning by creating hands on learning experiences for them to learn sustainable ways to grow fruits and veggies themselves. We want them to love learning plant life cycles and eat new food in the process.

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 1040! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/18/2176041/-The-Inoculation-Project-6-18-2023-Mississippi-Physics-Alabama-Library

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