Date: January 2024
School: Priest River Lamana High School
Wish Delivered: Science Department Supplies
Teacher Kimberly Colombini says " As Forensics is a relatively new class, many of the most basic items for crime scene recreation and evaluation are in the highest need of materials. For Biology, our students have found an interest in microscopic objects, with this wishlist our students would be able to incorporate new microscope slides into the pre-existing bank of interesting items to observe. Some of which include frog skin slides, basswood root slides, staphylococcus slides, and amphiuma liver slides. A lab that tends to stick in my sophomore student's memory is our collection and evaluation of our school pond. We use gloves, syringes, and micropipettes to collect and look at the microorganisms living on campus. As you can see, not only do these supplies aid in educating our youth, they also contribute to the fun and entertainment of engaging and participating in school."
Wish Amount: $5,144.85
Date: January 2024
School: Washington Elementary
Wish Delivered: Science Books
Teacher Hallie Reikowsky says " We would like to build a unique library to access information including ecology, biology, civic leadership, forestry, and many other scientific branches. Students will engage in group research projects and present information on a chosen outdoor leader. The research will be presented in the form of a “wax museum” where one student pretends to be a wax statue based on the person they study, and the other students walk around the “museum” and push “buttons” by each “statue”- making it come alive to report their personal history as a leader in our nation! The books proposed will also be utilized for early learner literacy skills including retelling stories and topics with our much loved puppets! We hope to begin this project after this coming Winter Break."
Wish Amount: $625.14
Date: January 2024
School: Sandpoint High School
Wish Delivered: Basic Supplies
Teacher Allison Sletagers says "I have students in freshman English, Pre-AP, and AP Literature and Composition (seniors). My Wishlist includes some basic classroom materials that I go through quickly, but it also includes a long list of books that I would love to have in my classroom. I am currently trying to create a classroom library. Because we are in a small town we only have our school library and our one public library for our students to check out novels from. Sadly, our school library has not updated its selection of novels for quite some time. This makes it difficult for students to find novels to read without having to purchase them. I want to create a classroom library so that students can check out novels directly from me. I am hoping to instill a love of learning and reading in my students. I would love to have novels readily available to them.”
Wish Amount: $706.37
Date: January 2024
School: Sandpoint High School
Wish Delivered: Tech Update
Teacher Derek Dickinson says "currently the library is a ghost town of wasted space basically used for storing textbooks. So far this year, I have been working hard to weed out books and to problem solve different storage solutions for our many textbooks we have. As space starts to open up, I want to start adding items which will appeal to students and get kids in this great space. Technology is proven to help engage students in the classroom, so why not use technology to draw students in the library. I have chosen a few items which can help get us started. A smart TV and cart to allow the flexibility to move it around for use throughout the library. How cool would it be to live stream events or find educational programs programs for students to view?"
Wish Amount: $2,346.36
Date: January 2024
School: Middleton Middle School
Wish Delivered: School Foods and Finance Class Supplies
Teacher Anne Gigray Kinley says "I have been teaching Culinary Arts, sewing and Finance to approximately 400-500 7th and 8th graders every year for the past 5 years. This program has grown tremendously in need and student popularity. I operate on a very limited budget. The budget I am given barely provides the money to purchase the food items needed for the cooking labs to take place for students. For the program to grow I have relied on getting "creative" to find extra funds to purchase the items needed for the cooking and teaching of finance. We are desperately in need of kitchen remodels for all 3 kitchens that I have, but I know that will be terribly pricey ($80-$100K)... In the mean time I am looking for other ways to help continue to grow the program and keep things up to date in my kitchens. In my district, sadly, there are not other funding sources besides finding grants to write... If this grant were to be funded it would help improve the current program and give us a little breathing room to wait and look for funding sources to do the kitchen remodels. We love to show off all our hard work. These students would definitely put all items on this list to good use right away as soon as items were to be received. We would love to have a way to share/show you all that we are doing with these amazing gifts!"
Wish Amount: $6,200
Date: January 2024
School: Frontier Elementary
Wish Delivered: Book Repair Machine
Librarian Carolyn Knam says “In an aging library and with little money to replace books, repairing books is sometimes the only option I have to ensure our students are reading what they like to read. When I glue books back together with book glue, after the pages fall out, it usually takes a few days to dry and most times there will be more than one repair for that book. By the time I can get it to the student after the repair, they have lost interest, or moved on to something else. Often that popular book makes a difference whether a student reads what they check out.
A Cover One machine would help reduce repair time and allow our library books, whose spines need repair, to be fixed quickly. This will get books back in the hands of our students faster and keep them reading.”
Wish Amount: $1,877.98
Date: January 2024
School: Hawthorne Elementary
Wish Delivered: 3D Printer, string lights and WIFI speaker
Teacher David Tilley says "The primary goal of this project is to enhance the learning environment in our special education classroom by introducing modern technology that fosters creativity, problem-solving skills, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education. Due to behaviors driven by disability, many of our students do not have access to the general education environment where they would be exposed to this technology. The secondary goal of this project is to enhance the classroom’s atmosphere. Our special education classroom serves a diverse group of students with varying emotional and sensory sensitivities. To better meet their needs and promote engagement and comfort, the use of colored lights and a more flexible sound system can help meet that need."
Wish Amount: $523
Date: January 2024
School: Wendell Elementary
Wish Delivered: Books
Books for Paula Chapman. Teachers are reading books related to a monthly social emotional theme like: empathy, friendship, respect, etc.. Students also do other activities related to the character word like writing, art, and discussions.
Wish Amount: $2,205.25
