The Agua Fria Elementary School Garden Program evolved in collaboration with Santa Fe Community Farm one year ago. We currently have active participation and integration in the curriculum of 2nd, 3rd and 6th grade classes with about 100 students. The goal of this garden is to provide a venue in which students may engage as stewards helping to restore habitat, build soil, mitigate climate change impacts and adopt healthy nutrition lifestyles. In excitement for educational opportunities around water-wise agricultural principles and innovative food production systems, we are installing rainwater catchment and drip irrigation and developing our first greenhouse to shelter more growing space, aquaponics and spirulina operations. 

The Third Grade team teachers want to make a special after-school club available for third graders. They are working with Assistance Dogs of the West trainers. The trainers teach students to train assistance dogs for people with disabilities. Students will also receive lessons in leadership, disabilities awareness, responsibility and community service. In these classes, students have the chance to learn very important and useful leadership skills while working with the dogs. 
Much needed assistance dogs are placed with people with disabilities in our community, providing them the means to live more fulfilled and independent lives. Assistance Dogs of the West provides instructors trained to bring these programs to schools. They have a proven track record of working successfully with students. 

Trish Gharrity and Samantha Rivera co-teach in 2nd grade at Sweeney Elementary School. We are looking for a sponsor to help us increase our classroom library. We will use the books for different activities including Writier's Workshop which exposes children to different types of writing styles as well as Author Studies. We begin an author study by introducing an author with a short biography and discussing writing styles. We compare and contrast a variety of books within the author as well as between authors. While we study the writing styles, the children then begin to transfer the style to their own writing. With a wide selection of authors, we will be able to expand learning from different styles. A wide variety of books in the classroom will allow students easy access to literacy in order to broaden their vocabulary and build background knowledge. Our hope is to develop a system where children have easier access to check out boo ks as needed. 

We need extra help with our incentive programs. We would like to purchase pencils, books, book marks, bumper stickers, and various other forms of incentives for our students who have excellent points regarding their attendance, character, and grades. We love to give our students the most appreciation possible in order to help them stay motivated to come and achieve in school. We thank you so much for your help in our endeavors and your extra support in encouraging our students. 

I have to photocopy pages for all of my students several times a week, just so that everyone can look at the same thing and follow the lesson. This is a huge waste of paper, especially when a lot of these pages are simply thrown away after class or never looked at again.

Students in both AP English classes and English Language Development at Monte del Sol Charter school will team up with Jimmy Santiago Baca in a writing workshops. The workshop will be the culmination of a unit focused heavily on excerpts of Jimmy Santiago Baca's works, (old and new, poetry and prose) with a particular focus on follow-up writing exercises for students to connect with literature.