Are you an East Side parent that is curious to know what the East Side teachers and administration think of the Foundation? Don’t think your donation has an impact? Here is some feedback on past uses of your donations.

• To the Foundation,
  Thank you SO much for the 6+1 Writing Traits grant!  We feel very fortunate to have such a supportive group of people who believe in us!  We are all very excited to teach writing next year, and we know our students will be thrilled!  We appreciate all you do to make East Side GREAT!
  

  Thank you,

  The First Grade Team - May 2010
  
  
• "Dear Foundation Members,
  Thank you all so very much for approving Pixie and Brainpop! We appreciate everything that you all do!"
       Happy Holidays! The First Grade Team

   

• "The Second Grade team wants to extend a HUGE THANK-YOU for purchasing the Pixie program and for re-subscribing to Brain Pop. We are so excited to still have access to Brain Pop and to be able to start using Pixie in our classrooms! Thank you for always being so supportive of our classrooms and for helping us enrich our students' learning experiences. "
      Second Grade Team  

   

• "I wanted to take a minute to thank you for purchasing the Daily 6+1
   Writing Traits book for my class. We've been using this resource since
   November, and I can already tell a difference in many students' writing!
   This book helps students better understand the 6+1 traits and teaches them
   how to incorporate the traits into their writing. I can't wait to see the
   wonderful pieces they write on the Bare Books you purchased for us. These
   will be used as an end of the year project where they can showcase their
   writing talent!"
       Kelli Casey, Third Grade Teacher
• "Thank you SO much for sponsoring our trip to the State Capitol! We had an amazing trip! The parents in my room truly came together to not only raise money for the Foundation's Capital Campaign, but also to send my students on the trip of a lifetime. We had a fabulous day filled with meeting Governor Perdue and sitting on his desk (with his permission of course! :)), meeting Miss Georgia USA, walking through a session of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and meeting State Representative Brian Thomas. The students learned a great deal first hand about how our State Government works and made memories that they will keep forever. A big thank you to Susan Leingang for all she did to create such an amazing and smoothly run day at the Capitol."
       Chrissie Huckaby, M.Ed, Second Grade Teacher
• "We want to thank you for the gracious gift that was purchased for the 1st grade team. All of those wonderful books will be a great support in our teaching. We are all excited to start using the books to teach 6+1 Traits of Writing knowing what a difference they will make. It is wonderful to have all of the support given by the East Side Foundation. Thank you for all that you do!"
       First Grade Team
• "I can't tell you how much my students love the Interactive Smart Board that we have in our room. They love the hands on learning, and it has served as a great assessment tool for me. Especially with the new report cards that are out, it's been very beneficial for me to use as a formative assessment. Also, I wanted to say that I am very thankful to be at such a great school that actually has a foundation! I've always taught in Cobb, however, my last school was a Title I school where there was seriously no support...it just wasn't possible. I really appreciate y'all, and that's why I love participating in the teacher auction and offering as much as possible. Thanks for all that you do!"
       Maria L. Larsson, M.Ed, Second Grade Teacher
• "Thank you for your support and funding for the new Document Cameras for Target teachers. Target teachers and students appreciate the new opportunities using the ELMO. We'll be experimenting with new ways for students to use the document cameras to enhance their presentations. We appreciate the efforts of our super Foundation to continually meet the needs of teachers and students at East Side!"
       Cynthia Lind, Target Teacher
• "We, the school counselors of East Side Elementary, would like to thank you so much for purchasing the counseling department a MacBook for us to use in our school counseling curriculum. We just cannot express to you how much the use of this laptop in our curriculum will enhance the instruction of our lessons, which will enhance learning for our students.
  As elementary school counselors, we thrive in finding new ways to improve our school counseling program. The use of a laptop will ensure that we can develop innovative and challenging lessons and units that will broaden our school counseling program."
       Chandra Garrett, Anne Rowley, Huma Khatoon, School Counselors
• "Thank you for picking up the tab to provide my students with Weekly Reader this school year. You do great things to help our kids."
       Karen Melnick, Second Grade Teacher
• "Thank you very much for the six (6) Interwrite interactive technology tablets. We will use them for both whole class and small group instruction. We are excited about incorporating them in our daily curriculum and look forward to the high level of student engagement they will encourage."
       Kim Clark and Mark Campoli, Fifth Grade Teachers
• "I wanted to take the time to thank the Foundation for the time and love they put into researching a fun, safe playground for our kids to enjoy! The ability for the children to get outside and have creative play is so important, and they are truly utilizing all the new equipment in this capacity. It is amazing to see the excitement of the students as they climb, slide, balance, rock, and run through the playground. The parent donations to the Foundation are so appreciated, and are crucial to the success of our students' growth and educations. With your help, you are making this great school even better! Thank you! WE LOVE THE NEW FRONT PLAYGROUND!"
       Chrissie Huckaby, Second Grade Teacher
• "I would like to say thank you to the Foundation for purchasing the laptop and desktop computers. The laptop has provided me the ability to move from the lab to the classroom and the new desktop computers were essential for our classrooms as we now have two desktop computers in every classroom. Our students enjoy using technology and our staff is committed to use technology as a teaching tool. Having the financial support for technology is critical, and without this support we cannot give our students the ‘technical learning opportunities’ they deserve."
       Nancy Robinson, Computer Lab Teacher
• "I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank the Foundation and PTA for the financial support they have provided to help us implement the 6+1 Traits of Writing program across all grades. We have seen tremendous growth in our students' writing skills in the one year we have used this approach! When you are in the hallways of our school, take a look at what the students are writing. It is absolutely fascinating to see the progression of the skills over the course of time. This program has been just what we needed to provide our students in all grade levels with the necessary tools to become more proficient writers."
       Dianne Gurr, Assistant Principal

We welcome teacher comments and would love to hear from you on how the Foundation funding has impacted your classroom and other school facilities, curriculum, and technology at East Side. Please email your comments to the Foundation here at foundation@eastsideelementary.com