Success Stories
“In January of 2023, I started a DonorsChoose project hoping for some calculators for my 8th grade students. I had asked the math departments, the math lead teacher, the school secretary and all told me we had no room for calculators — the main message was, "just have the students use their computers." While calculators are on computers, they aren't always user friendly or as convenient as having a calculator in hand. Enter Calc-X-Change.
In February, I get a message from Matthew Kim saying he found my DonorsChoose and wanted to help. I was shocked and excited. After exchanging a few emails (and being so patient with my crazy schedule of responding) I had enough calculators headed my way to put one in every students' hand.
My students were thrilled to get these calculators! I told them that someone all the way in California learned about our needs and graciously sent us calculators. As they said, "someone in California knows about our class? And they wanted to help?" YES! This program is so amazing AND started by Matthew, a student himself! My students and I cannot thank him enough. We are also looking forward to learning more about this new app to help fill this need in a more appropriate digital way. Thank you Matthew and Calc-X-Change!” — Sara Dinzeo
Caption: Students in middle school math teacher Rosemary Steinman’s class hold TI-84 calculators donated by Calc-X-Change.
“Calc-X-Change has been an incredible resource, providing tools to challenge students and help them get ready for the upper grades.
This year, I received five TI-84 calculators to use with my high flyers — to get them to learn how to use a graphing calculator, and to prep them for 8th grade in the fall. We are so thankful for this opportunity and I hope other teachers get the chance to participate in this fantastic resource! Thank you so much!” — Rosemary Steinman
Caption: Scientific calculators donated by Calc-X-Change sit in high school math teacher Edgar Gonzales’s class, along with an AVID poster and a math notebook.
“I would like to thank Calc-X-Change for their support in providing my classroom with Scientific Calculators, specifically Ti Calculators. My students were always having to rely on their phones, which are not allowed on a test, or Desmos which also is a tool that can undermine what we teachers are looking for though an assessment. My students are grateful to Matthew Kim and the Calc-X-Change program! — Edgar Gonzalez