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By Kris Monday, Sep 15, 2008 at 3:42pm

James Cryan, a teacher at Rishel Middle School in Denver, Colorado, scored his 15 minutes of fame recently when he and his classroom were featured on Denver’s Channel 9 News. Even better than his news broadcast fame, however, is the collection of literature that he is scoring through his project at DonorsChoose.org.

James teaches literacy in a school where a vast majority of the students are acquiring English as their second language. He found that the classroom library he inherited when he started teaching through Teach for America two years ago didn’t include literature that was meaningful to his students and their life experiences.  They characterized the stories as “boring,” and “not cool.” Thus, he set about to change that situation by posting his request on DonorsChoose.org. When education reporter Nelson Garcia got wind of Mr. Cryan’s request, he decided to feature James on the evening news! You can view the DonorsChoose.org segment here.

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By Kris Thursday, Jun 26, 2008 at 4:16pm

At Principals’ Center Collaborative in San Francisco, teenagers with a troubled past are given a chance to redeem themselves. “Burglary, robbery, (and) assault,” are just some of the crimes committed by students, according to school Principal Kevin Kerr. In Mr. Enguidanos’ biology classroom, these same kids have discovered an extraordinary passion for science.

“When we give (students) really exciting, stimulating learning experiences, then they forget all the drama in their lives” said Mr. Enguidanos. This creative teacher says that units on dissection (using materials provided by DonorsChoose.org) has sparked students’ interest in science. Now Mr. Enguidanos wants them to expand their curiosity by focusing on pond biology. With the help of nets, guides, and other equipment, Mr. Enguidanos’s students will explore plants, insects, arthropods, and spiders.

San Francisco television reporter Lyanne Melendez ran a story about this unique biology class recently, as part of her award-winning series on DonorsChoose.org. Before the newscast was over, the project was fully funded! These resources will be waiting for Mr. Enguidanos’s students when school reconvenes in late summer. You can view the video of Mr. Enguidanos and his classroom here.

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