Terra Sigillata

Much to my amazement, over $500 has been donated to fully fund the first of my three pet projects in North Carolina. What is even more amazing is that these donations came from a total of two individuals: one is a blogger and the other is unknown to me, I think, but DonorsChoose does not list the amount for each donor. So thank you to you both and a very special BIG thank you if one of you donated the bulk or if both of you donated in the ballpark of $250 each.

Why I am even more touched by your generosity is that the funded project, Big Books for Little Readers in Science and Social Studies is for books to build literacy among 24 Kindergarteners in a rather poor, community in southeastern North Carolina, where 93% of the students' families are considered low-income.

Here's a description of the project you've funded in Lumberton, NC:

This proposal is for 24 Kindergarteners in a Title I School. These little readers are enticed by Big Readers. Last year, my students loved the Big Books and read along books and cassettes that I had within my classroom. However, I did not have nearly enough or any that were integrated across the curriculum. This proposal is for 8 Easy to Read Along Big Books with 6 student readers, read along cassettes, CD's and a metal stand to keep them organized for years to come. The topics include Plants, Dinosaurs, Farm Animals, Community Helpers, Sea Life, Transportation, Food/Nutrition, and Seasons/Weather. These books will offer many opportunities to my little ones such as building their vocabulary, alphabet recognition and phonics, listening and speaking, comprehension, book and print awareness.

Ultimately, their love of reading the materials will offer lifelong reading fluency. Thanks in advance for enriching the lives of my little ones.

Even better news is that our ScienceBlogs host, Seed Media Group, offered on Friday to give a dollar for dollar match for every donation up to a total of $10,000. I should note that this offer came entirely without any coaxing on our part, as relayed to us by Sb den mother, Katherine Sharpe:

It's true: Michael Tive walked into my office yesterday morning with the news that the people who control the purse strings at SEED had read about your challenge and were moved to be part of it.

This kind of support makes me happy that I made the decision to join Sb.

I'll elaborate more later on the other two projects I've gotten behind and why I picked these:
Cloudy, with a Chance of Learning...
Turn March Sadness into March Madness, Part 2

If you're interested in supporting either of these efforts, go ahead and click below. Remember that if you make a donation as little as $10, send your confirmation e-mail to ScienceBlogs.com at sb.donorschoose.bonanza@gmail.com and become eligible for some great books and Sb swag.