Anyone out there appreciate teachers? *cups hands behind ears* Anyone want to earn a $100 gift card for your favorite teacher?
Of course you do! And now we have a chance to show some teachers just how much! I was a teacher years back, and I spent over $1300 of my own money to supplement my curriculum that first year. Because it was a private school, my salary for the year was a whopping $14,000, but I wanted more for my kids.
I know first-hand that this is a decision all teachers face. And let’s face it, teachers are not paid enough. I know there is a lot of content that follows… and some pretty specific detail. However, if anyone is worth a little effort — it’s a quality teacher. If you have any questions about this program, please leave a comment or email me: jennyonthespot [at] gmail [dot] com
**Personal friends and family — please note the “fine print” at the bottom**
Did you know teachers spend an average of $1200 of their own money on classroom supplies each year? That is $4 billion annually! That’s why OfficeMax joined with Adopt-A-Classroom to create “A Day Made Better” national cause event founded to erase teacher-funded classrooms. This year, “A Day Made Better” will take place on October 6 where 1,000 teachers will be surprised in their classrooms each with $1,000 worth of essential supplies from OfficeMax. That’s more than one million dollars donated to help teachers! Principals at needy schools nominated the teachers for demonstrating dedication, innovation, and passion.
To pay-it-forward, OfficeMax and Mom It Forward have teamed up to create awareness about the issue of teacher-funded classrooms and to give you the opportunity to get involved and help a teacher in your community on behalf of “A Day Made Better”… Here’s how:
Simply nominate a teacher of your choice to win this giveaway by following the entry requirements. Be sure to check out the prize and criteria!
Prize
One exceptional teacher will receive a ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR gift card to OfficeMax. This can go a long way when it comes to classroom supplies!
Criteria
This is a giveaway that is meant to be given away. What does that mean? You get to nominate a teacher by sharing why this person is exceptional and deserving of this giveaway. The best part, every story told helps raise awareness in an effort to erase teacher-funded classrooms. The winning teacher will be chosen based on the following criteria, so be sure to tell us why your teacher is most deserving:
- Dedication: does everything in his/her power to deliver the best possible education for his/her students.
- Innovation: thinks outside the box and engages his/her students through creative learning activities & programs.
- Passion: expresses a genuine passion for education and shares this enthusiasm in the classroom.
- Need: demonstrates a need for essential classroom supplies.
Entry Requirements
To enter your teacher, you are required to do two things.
(Note: post a separate comment for each entry.)1. Nominate them through a blog post or on Whrrl.
Write a post on your blog.
- You can include photos, video, etc. but please stay under 400 words or 3 minutes.
- Please include these links: http://adaymadebetter.com or @adaymadebetter.
- Include a link to your post in the comments section.
OR
Create a story on Whrrl.com.
- Go to our custom Whrrl page at http://whrrl.com/search?q=omx, click “Start A Story” and upload photos and text about why your teacher is most deserving.
- Be sure to include the #omx hashtag in the text of your story.
- Post a link to your Whrrl story in the comments section.
OR
Simply leave a comment.
- Tell us about the teacher you would like to nominate! Be sure to leave an email address (included in the comment submission form)!
2. Post these messages on Facebook and/or Twitter.
(Note: Be sure to leave comments here with links to your messages.)- Teachers spend avg $1200 of own $$ on school supplies annually! Help erase teacher-funded classrooms. http://bit.ly/3VUNvC PLS RT #omx
- Nominate a teacher 2 win $100 in OfficeMax classroom supplies. Enter here: PUT YOUR POST URL HERE PLS RT #omx
- Join the “A Day Made Better” movement to end teacher-funded classrooms at http://bit.ly/UJ3LF #omx
More than 30 sites are participating in this campaign between now and Sunday, October 4. Visit http://momitforward.com for a list of all the giveaways! You may enter a different teacher on every site, but you may only win once!
Thanks so much for helping pay-it-forward to teachers in your community! Please join us on Tuesdays, September 22 and 29 from 9 to 11 pm ET for Girls Night Out (#gno) on Twitter if you’d like to meet the team behind the cause: @officemax, @adaymadebetter and @Adopt_Classroom. Hope to see you there!
Fine Print
Entries are due Sunday, October 4 by midnight PDT. No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected by me based on the entry that in my opinion meets the above criteria. OfficeMax, Adopt-A-Classroom and Mom It Forward play no part in choosing the winner of this giveaway. OfficeMax, Adopt-A-Classroom, and Mom It Forward employees are ineligible to enter. In a spirit of fairness, my personal friends and family members are also ineligible. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered. The winner will be notified and have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the email. If no response is received within 24 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to participants in the U.S. 18 years and older. ***My personal friends & family… since there are 29 other Mom It Forward bloggers in this campaign — feel free to visit any one of their blogs to nominate YOUR desired teacher! Also, LOCAL friends and family, Allie of No Time for Flashcards and I are combining forces and throwing a local event to gather supplies for a teacher right here in our community! If you are local and would like to be included on the invite, be sure to leave a comment or drop me an email! The more participation, the more stuff we can give! As of this writing, we have 2 local businesses that have offered assistance with our local event – Zero Gravity Athletics (a door prize and field trip for the winning classroom) and Poulsbo Athletic Club is giving us space to put out a box to gather supplies!*************
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I think this is really cool. Please include me on the invite for the local event.
As a teacher, thank you.
I’ve been reading your blog for a few months now, and I LOVE that you acknowledge the things that teachers do for their students. I am blessed to work in a district that gives supply money to cover most of my classroom costs, but I know that there are a lot of teachers who aren’t so lucky.
So, once again, Thank You!
Michelle – you betcha!
Jen – Wow thanks! So happy you left a comment! I feel privileged to be a part of this campaign! Go teachers!
This is such a great thing. Teachers do so much and deserve something to help them out. Our district can’t even afford to provide the reading books that are assigned this year. Textbooks they have but additional reading like The Diary of Anne Frank we have to go out and buy ourselves. Thanks for sharing this.
please include me in your local event invite. As a teacher, I appreciate Office Max’s discount program for us, Max Perks and I try to support the Poulsbo store when buying classroom or personal use supplies. Thanks for all you do, Jenny and Office Max!
This is so very true. I’m a teacher and I’ve spend lots of cash for my students especially as I’m a class teacher of 2 classes ( this double up my expenses )
Our country celebrated teacher’s day on 23rd of september each year but recently ( past 2 years ) , the celebration was postponed to October :( it was a bit disappointed in a way. The celebration was also not as merrier as before.
Oh well , I just hope people will be more aware on our huge responsibilities :) good luck for all the nominated teachers :D
I think this is a great idea! I want to put my daughters teacher in for the prize. Her name is Mrs. McClanahan and she is from Vinland Elementary in Poulsbo. My daughter started jumping up and down for joy when she found out she was in her class for this year. Even though she has been a teacher at the school for a long time she has managed to keep her outlook fresh and her enthusiasm for teaching is off the charts. She is continually looking for new ideas and exciting ways to introduce her second graders to the world and I know she would take this prize and turn it into something amazing, worth way more than $100.00.
I’d love to nominate my daughter’s kindergarten teacher for this! :)
I’d love to nominate my sister – Eleanor. She teaches 4 year old kindergarten. She constantly comes up with great activities to keep those busy little bodies occupied with learning! I teach 5 yo kindergarten so we often (every Sunday) share ideas.
She’s a cancer survivor and never even slowed down when taking treatments.
I know she would love to have an extra $100 to spend on her classroom.
She’s my big sister and my hero.
mj.coward[at]gmail.com
Twwets
http://twitter.com/sumrthyme/status/4587164160
http://twitter.com/sumrthyme/status/4577078594
http://twitter.com/sumrthyme/status/4577163948
I would like to nominate my mom and dedicated educator, Nancy McNeal.
She entered the education world 25+ years ago as a physics, biology, & chemistry teacher. She has always worked hard to better herself and her classroom for her students, often going across the country to workshops for science teachers (usually paying her own way). She has been to science workshops from Boston to Phoenix in order to learn new, innovative ways to teach.
Four years ago, she participated in a group project at Middle Tenneessee State University and became qualified to teach ESL (English as a Second Language). She quit her job of over 20 years teaching high school science to move to an elementary school and begin helping students who had difficulties learning due to language barriers.
McMinnville, Tennessee, is the town where she teaches at Dibrell Elementary School. McMinnville is a small town touted as the “Nursery Capital of the World,” which means many migrant workers move to the area searching for work at local nurseries. My mother teaches her “little ones” (K-8) letters, words, colors, and so much more. She works tirelessly to not only help them in the classroom, but also in life.
She has worked with LEAPS, an after-school program for students needing extra help. She often uses her own money to buy school supplies, clothing, and even eyeglasses for her students. (The back of my car is currently full of clothing & household supplies she asked me to bring to her so that she could hold her second annual “yardsale” at school — the families of her students are allowed to go through these items and choose what they need.) Last year, she even transported one of her students to counseling sessions every week after some school issues arose & prompted his parents to seek counseling for him. Also within the last year, she helped a student’s mother escape an abusive relationship and move herself and her children into a local women’s shelter.
Anytime we are shopping, my mother picks up several items (school supplies, activities, prizes, even clothing) for her students so that “she’ll have them when she needs them.” She teaches her 50+ students in a classroom which used to be a janitor’s closet. She shares the space with her biligual assistant and another school employee. If you walk into her classroom, you will see her teaching a small group at one end and her biligual assistant teaching another group at the other. Although only feet from each other, they work hard every day to maximize the time they have with their students.
My mother could use this gift card and put it to excellent use. Her students would benefit greatly from the extra funds.
I’ve asked others to share their stories and send in nominations: http://www.twitter.com/joannamcneal
Thanks so much for making this contest possible!
Kristel Hansen works as a science teacher at a jr high in West Valley City, Utah. This year she isn’t getting any help with science supplies, and not always lab supplies either. She buys those out of pocket.
In order to inspire her students, she presents one with a “Student of the Week” award…out of her own pocket also.
The school doesn’t have air conditioning, and it’s pretty hot in her classroom – upstairs with no windows. She buys them bottled water and Otter pops to help cool it down, and brings in her own swamp coolers and fans to make it cooler.
She also coaches soccer there, and spent $60 of her own money to repaint the soccer field since the school ran out.
She stays on her own time, unpaid, after school to help students with her homework and do soccer coaching.
I know this card would help her out so much – even if just for ink for the printers. They only get so many copies a year, and have to pay for anything over their allowance.
http://twitter.com/treesandshrubs/status/4605882391
http://twitter.com/treesandshrubs/status/4605887600
http://twitter.com/treesandshrubs/status/4605892485
Please include my daughters 2nd grade teacher Ms Griffin, @ Dogwood Elementary in Fairfax County VA. Ms Griffin is amazing to talk to with, no nonsense, answers emails quickly, and most of all the kids love her. She’s created an environment that the kids can and are blossoming in.
Thanks for the wonderful give away, I love it, and know that no matter who wins, the teachers will be all the better for it!
lisa m
My post:
http://donna444444.blogspot.com/2009/09/day-made-better.html
My tweets:
http://twitter.com/donnak4/status/4621404499
http://twitter.com/donnak4/status/4621718488
http://twitter.com/donnak4/status/4621359291
Please include my daughters 2nd grade teacher Ms Griffin, @ Dogwood Elementary in Fairfax County VA. Ms Griffin is amazing to talk to with, no nonsense, answers emails quickly, and most of all the kids love her. She’s created an environment that the kids can and are blossoming in.
Thanks for the wonderful give away, I love it, and know that no matter who wins, the teachers will be all the better for it!
lisa m
Wow! Thank you so much, Jenny, for participating in this contest. I was thrilled to receive your forwarded email from my daughter Joanna saying that her nomination had won a $100 OfficeMax gift card for my students. I’m already planning what I’ll use it for!!
Jenny, I just wanted to say thanks again. Joanna received the gift card from OfficeMax in the mail and gave it to me today. It WILL make a difference to my students!