Teacher Appreciation Continues

We had so much fun with our Teacher Appreciation 10 Days of Giveaways! There were nearly 100 teachers’ names in the hat! We ended up sending out SEVEN Amazon gift cards and donating to THREE different DonorsChoose projects! It has been an honor and privilege to be able to celebrate and support teachers in these tangible ways.  

We know that there are so many more teachers out there who have learned and grown so much through this adventure, and we’d love to be able to treat ALL teachers to a little gift, but that’s just not realistic. We were able to celebrate and support ten teachers from all over the country. If you know these wonderful humans, give them a virtual high five!  

Amazon gift card winners: 

Shana Schwan, MN 
Denise Buck, TX 
Molly Paradis, NC 
LaDena Campbell, KS 
Rebecca Adams, TX 
Richard White, GA 
Jo Layne Cafasso, NC 

DonorsChoose donation recipients: 

Monica Bowman – congratulations on a fully funded project!! 
Karina Garcia – congratulations on a fully funded project!! 
Norma Cordova – “All Aboard the Cricut Creative Train” will provide a Cricut machine and necessary materials to allow students to bring their imaginations alive with various arts and crafts projects! 

If you are interested in contributing to Norma’s project, just click on her name above and you will be taken to the project page where you’ll be able to donate. She’s about halfway to being fully funded and currently, all donations are being matched, so your contribution will go twice as far if you donate today!  

As part of the entry form, we asked teachers to describe their year in 5 words or fewer. Here are some of their responses: 

• “A year of adjustment” – Shekesha J., GA  
• “Intensive support for kids, vital” – Amelia R., NC 
• “An everchanging beautiful adventure” – Deena D., TX 
• “Teaching beginning instruments online – yikes!” – Heather T., NY 
• “Unprecedented challenges meet unrelenting effort!” – Alejandro D., TX 
• “Relearn, reboot, rebuild, restart, remember” – Lesley P., NJ 
• “One of growth and flexibility.” – Melissa D., NJ 
• “Emotionally draining yet still hopeful” – Teresa M., IN 
• “Unbelievably demanding. So many unknowns.” – Lauren B., CA 
• “Crazy, tearful, joyful, dysfunctional, exhausting” – Andrea T., OR 

Wow! So many different emotions and experiences! Teaching has never been easy, but we think it’s safe to say that it was flipped upside down during the pandemic and this year has certainly been one for the history books. Between the sudden shutdowns, being thrust into virtual learning with little resources and support, and the uncertainty of when in-person learning would return has had significant impacts on those on the front lines of the education battlefield. But the resiliency we’ve seen is truly inspiring.  

THANK YOU, TEACHERS! You have shown us the very meaning of dedication, flexibility, and perseverance, and while we hope the end of the pandemic is near, we know that our students are in the best hands possible. And just in case this hasn’t been enough of a happy note for you, just remember – summer is right around the corner!