I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who contributed to the classroom projects at donorschoose.org over the past week. Together, with me matching your donations, we raised $190 for several classrooms - three of which completed their funding at your hands! Two of those were looking for video cameras to allow students to learn film production and help them on writing assignments. Another classroom got a document projector to assist students in visual learning!
THANK YOU LETTERS FROM THE TEACHERS:
"A huge thanks to all of you for donating to this project. Because of your generosity my students will continue to grow into better and more excited writers. Seeing and hearing their excitement when I let them know the great news was amazing. They are already thinking of their next great idea to write about. Again, please know how much I appreciate your support of my students and their writing success."
"Thank you for your generous support and contributions to our student-produced television project! The camera and media that your donations provide will be used by a group of students who have shown tremendous initiative and creativity-- they've already produced several short videos using low-resolution cameras, and I'm very excited to see the work they'll do with this upgraded equipment.
These students took it upon themselves to form an extracurricular group, meeting after school to shoot, edit and assemble their videos. In a low-income, urban setting like ours, the importance of extra-curricular activities cannot be stressed enough. With your support, these students will be able to take a project they love, which they created, to the next level.
With gratitude,
Mr. K."
"Thank you all so much for your donations. Because of your generosity, my classroom will now be equipped with a document camera. My students will greatly benefit from this. Having a document camera in our classroom will allow me to project anything from worksheets, to 3-D objects, to a computer screen. This will allow me to turn anything into a large visual aid. Since most of my students are visual learners, a document camera is a necessary tool for their learning.
My students and I are extremely grateful and excited! I appreciate the support that you have all shown in my students' learning and in their futures. Great things are being done through Donors Choose, and this is just one of them.
With gratitude,
Ms. L."
Again, thank you to those who donated or passed on the link or emailed people. You can still donate at Donors Choose but my finances are tapped out for the foreseeable future, so I can't match donations anymore (they're tax-deductible, by the way, in case that motivates you!). I've been sleeping on the floor for five months, and am going to buy a bed with my next paycheck, because my back is finally starting to complain.
These guys need $140 more to realize their goals. If you can give even a dollar, I would adore you forever.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Most Important Thing I've Ever Written
MORE UPDATES!
UPDATE: You guys cleared out this entire charity's needs in less than four hours. I was going to match and donate after dinner, but the donations are now closed for this particular charity. Here's what we're going to do: At the time I made the offer to match donations, they needed $190. If we were going to fill that together, you needed to donate $95, and I would match $95. Since I didn't get my opportunity to donate, BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE WAY TOO AMAZING, I'll be matching donations until I hit the $95 dollar limit for ANY classroom project you choose on the donorschoose website. I'll be posting updates on here, Facebook and Twitter (username: thoughtmecca) as to each classroom I donate to, and a countdown of what's left to donate.
Here's the list of classrooms you can choose from: You can search by amount needed to complete, region, subject, or grade level. Once you make your donation, forward me your receipt at: donations@matthartwell.com.
If you were to choose something media-based, as my original donation was, I'd be thrilled, and you can read my reasons for that below, but I will match any donation in any subject until I hit that $95 mark. If you guys keep donating after that, keep forwarding me your email addresses and the reason you chose the classroom you did, and I will post it here, to spread awareness of the project's you've chosen.
Donate $5 instead of eating out tonight! - Dave Metzger: Donation to Students "FLIP" For Writing!
This way you can't spend that money on beer. - Carly Bales: Donation to Student-Made Televison!
Joanne Hartwell: Projected Success!
Amount remaining for me to donate: $38
Taking a cue from John Rogers: If you like what you read here and on Elephant Words, donate to support a cause I believe in, and if you loathe it and everything I stand for, donations are a great way to bankrupt this kid out of $95.
ORIGINAL POST AS FOLLOWS:
Hey everybody,
I'm a recent college graduate just starting to work in Hollywood, and it's pretty awesome. I wouldn't be here, however, if I hadn't had an early exposure to film and television production. Most of this I received at the hands of truly dedicated teachers, as well as a slew of opportunities from my parents. The children at William Perry Elementary don't have these same opportunities. They attend school in a High Poverty area, and almost all of the students are dependent on the free lunch program just to ensure they receive adequate nutrition. While some people may scoff at the idea of donating video cameras as charity, I implore you not to pass up this chance to help shape a child's future. They will never be able to afford SR1 cameras or Final Cut Pro editing software, much less the computers to run it on, but a pair of FLIP camcorders, in addition to being perfectly rugged for their age group, allows anybody to learn the art of filmmaking. If even ONE child has a spark of creativity ignited because of the projects they use these cameras for, then it will be worth it. Because I believe so much in this, I am going to ask you to forward your receipt to me, and I will match any donations you make, dollar for dollar until their goal is met.
Click this link to donate and for further information!
Thank you for your time,
Matthew Hartwell
donations@matthartwell.com
UPDATE: You guys cleared out this entire charity's needs in less than four hours. I was going to match and donate after dinner, but the donations are now closed for this particular charity. Here's what we're going to do: At the time I made the offer to match donations, they needed $190. If we were going to fill that together, you needed to donate $95, and I would match $95. Since I didn't get my opportunity to donate, BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE WAY TOO AMAZING, I'll be matching donations until I hit the $95 dollar limit for ANY classroom project you choose on the donorschoose website. I'll be posting updates on here, Facebook and Twitter (username: thoughtmecca) as to each classroom I donate to, and a countdown of what's left to donate.
Here's the list of classrooms you can choose from: You can search by amount needed to complete, region, subject, or grade level. Once you make your donation, forward me your receipt at: donations@matthartwell.com.
If you were to choose something media-based, as my original donation was, I'd be thrilled, and you can read my reasons for that below, but I will match any donation in any subject until I hit that $95 mark. If you guys keep donating after that, keep forwarding me your email addresses and the reason you chose the classroom you did, and I will post it here, to spread awareness of the project's you've chosen.
Donate $5 instead of eating out tonight! - Dave Metzger: Donation to Students "FLIP" For Writing!
This way you can't spend that money on beer. - Carly Bales: Donation to Student-Made Televison!
Joanne Hartwell: Projected Success!
Amount remaining for me to donate: $38
Taking a cue from John Rogers: If you like what you read here and on Elephant Words, donate to support a cause I believe in, and if you loathe it and everything I stand for, donations are a great way to bankrupt this kid out of $95.
ORIGINAL POST AS FOLLOWS:
Hey everybody,
I'm a recent college graduate just starting to work in Hollywood, and it's pretty awesome. I wouldn't be here, however, if I hadn't had an early exposure to film and television production. Most of this I received at the hands of truly dedicated teachers, as well as a slew of opportunities from my parents. The children at William Perry Elementary don't have these same opportunities. They attend school in a High Poverty area, and almost all of the students are dependent on the free lunch program just to ensure they receive adequate nutrition. While some people may scoff at the idea of donating video cameras as charity, I implore you not to pass up this chance to help shape a child's future. They will never be able to afford SR1 cameras or Final Cut Pro editing software, much less the computers to run it on, but a pair of FLIP camcorders, in addition to being perfectly rugged for their age group, allows anybody to learn the art of filmmaking. If even ONE child has a spark of creativity ignited because of the projects they use these cameras for, then it will be worth it. Because I believe so much in this, I am going to ask you to forward your receipt to me, and I will match any donations you make, dollar for dollar until their goal is met.
Click this link to donate and for further information!
Thank you for your time,
Matthew Hartwell
donations@matthartwell.com
Monday, March 2, 2009
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