My Nonprofit Reviews
mpatton49
Review for Schmahl Science Workshops, San Jose, CA, USA
I have arranged for Schmahl Science workshops to be held at Los Arboles Elementary School for several years now. I teach the GATE classes after school. At first Belinda and I set up eight weeks worth of lessons around one theme in the fall. It was so popular that we repeated another eight lessons in the spring. Other students heard the GATE students talk about the classes. Soon we added two more eight week long classes both in the fall and the spring. The teachers in this program are fantastic. They make even the most difficult concepts understandable for a variety of age groups. The children love discovering answers and developing questions through hands on activities and experiments. These are science workshops, but the learning spans the curriculum. Many of the activities include figuring out distances,measurements, etc. The students have to write down what they've learned in a science journal. The difference of knowledge between the past and present are discussed, and how they may be the ones to discover new facts in the future. The students love these workshops and feel proud of their accomplishments.
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I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
improved grades of the students. I also see that it helps the students organize their thoughts. They are not afraid to try new things. I have found that even some of the quieter students will speak up because they feel secure while working in small groups.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
I wouldn't change a thing.
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
to see just how much the students enjoy this learning activity. Me too! I have learned so many things that also. The students love teaching me what they've learned.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
extremely knowledgeable in their fields. They were all friendly and fun loving. They were able to teach the concepts to many levels of ability.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
They could offer their classes to more students. It is sometimes difficult to pay for the workshops. It would be nice if we could have the classes at lower costs.
Ways to make it better...
There have been very few problems. If a lesson didn't go over quite as well as expected, we discussed it right then and made adjustments.
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
I'm not sure, but maybe it would be getting sufficient funding.
One thing I'd also say is that...
I'm so glad Schmahl Science is in existence.
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2008
