Date: July 2024
School: Washington, Green Acres, and Ellis Elementary Schools
Wish Delivered: 14 xylophones
Teacher Connie Irick says "I work at five elementary schools and many of the Orff xylophones at three of those schools are old, damaged, and play out of tune or not very well at all unless we use a really hard mallet! This makes it difficult for students to play correctly or get a decent sound out of the instruments. The xylophone lessons are one of my students favorite lessons so I would like to update/replace some of the really old instruments that do not play well and add a couple of extra instruments so that each school will have 6-7 good instruments. Currently I do not have the same number of instruments at each school and they are too large to haul around. These instruments would be distributed between three of my schools and will benefit over 700 students."
Wish Amount: $6,233.27
Date: July 2024
School: Homedale Middle School
Wish Delivered: Feminine products
Teacher Kimberly Morin says "We are a Title-1 school. Our poverty population is very high. I have girls coming to me all the time asking for feminine products. I was blessed to be able to participate in a grant that gave me products for six months. I was able to keep the girls bathrooms stocked and found that by them having these products available in the bathrooms they were missing less class time and they were at school more often. I had a few tell me that they miss because it was a bad period day. Knowing they can walk into the bathroom at any time and know there is something there helps them feel secure."
Wish Amount: $66.00
Date: July 2024
School: Weiser High School
Wish Delivered: Feminine products
Teacher Katie Maloney says "We are a high poverty area and so many of our girls do not have the availability to purchase period products AND often girls are caught off guard and don't have supplies with them. The "Days for Girls" got us started with the boxes and they have been very respectfully used over the past couple of months and we would like to keep the program going."
Wish Amount: $100.00
Date: July 2024
School: St. Maries High School
Wish Delivered: Books, storage, and new desk
Teacher Alyssa Geldreich says "Our school has no library and hardly funds the books for our English program. We are severely lacking in funding and the students are the ones suffering. All of our books and sources are almost completely gone and what we do have in the school is funded by the other English teachers. At the moment I have none of the above books which are all apart of our curriculum for the school. I have had to pay out of pocket for audiobooks and the students struggle with these. They have a hard time making connections without any physical books."
Wish Amount: $5,641.23
Date: June 2024
School: Indian Hills Elementary
Wish Delivered: Field trip transportation
Teacher Deri Hall says "For the last several years, the fourth grade teachers at Indian Hills Elementary have taken our students on an adventure. We need two charter buses to hold all the excitement that our 87 students hold. We then travel down the road and stop at Grace Fish Hatchery. Students learn all about the native fish of Idaho first hand. Then we move on to Hooper Springs Park just outside of Soda Springs... Lastly, we spend a few hours at The National California/Oregon Trail Museum in Montpelier. Students experience what it might be like to ride in a wagon, see artifacts from people who lived years ago, and hear how those people traversing the Oregon Trail survived. Besides all of this, they get to see how beautiful Idaho truly is. Some of our students have never left Pocatello. It is an experience that they will remember their whole lives. It is an education of truly learning about their state first hand and connecting it to lessons they have already learned about Idaho"
Wish Amount: $1,000.00
Date: May 2024
School: West Junior High School
Wish Delivered: Feminine products
Teacher Silvana Stoll says "These items will help ALL female students at West Junior High. West currently provides period products to all students for FREE (via donations) in all of the girl's bathrooms. This allows students to not be embarrassed, have less time out of class, as well as improving attendance as research shows that many students miss at least one day of school a month due to having their period. In the past I have had students come into my office and ask, "Mrs. Stoll, do you have a tampon? I don't want to go to the nurse and ask because the other students in there will know." This removes the stigma associated with a biological function. We empower female students who check and restock the baskets a few times each week. This has been one of the best programs I have coordinated in my 31 years as a counselor in the Boise School District!"
Wish Amount: $120.00
Date: May 2024
School: Ustick Elementary School
Wish Delivered: New books, flex seating, and snacks
Teacher Callie Epps says "The books will provide more engaging reading material for our students in the classroom. Our school library has a limited amount of popular books that often times our students don't get to check out or have to wait weeks to do so... The flex seating allows for students to have movement while also staying engaged in their learning. Providing students with a choice of what they would like to sit on throughout the day teaches them ownership for their actions and responsibility for the classroom tools. Our student population has more than 75% of our students on free and reduced lunches. We have a very hungry student population. Often times our students come to school hungry and stay hungry throughout the day. Providing snacks will help students retain the energy they need throughout the day to keep on learning. Snacks will also cause some unwanted student behaviors to dissipate because everybody is happy with a full stomach."
Wish Amount: $648.84
Date: May 2024
School: Meridian Academy High School
Wish Delivered: Counseling group supplies
Teacher Megan Peterman says "I am the only counselor at our school, which is a public school in the West Ada School District for students who qualify as at-risk of not graduating. Students here often qualify though mental health concerns that families do not have the resources to treat. I have enough supplies on this list to run 3 separate small counseling groups, and have a counselor intern who could assist with making this group powerful in supporting students in removing barriers of anxiety and depression and meeting their goal of graduating high school. I would identify students who are struggling with academic progress due to anxiety and depression, get parent permission for a counseling group, and prioritize students without insurance or who do not have access to counseling resources outside of school."
Wish Amount: $880.00
