I feel like the luckiest teacher alive!
Berea Elementary teacher receives surprise donation from OfficeMax | YouTube
Berea Elementary fourth grade teacher Allison Roberts was in the middle of a math lesson when she received a big surprise from OfficeMax as part of “A Day Made Better,” a national event that calls attention to the issue of teachers spending their own money to purchase classroom supplies.
Employees from the Woodruff Road OfficeMax walked into her classroom this morning with a new desk chair and a huge box filled with $1,000 worth of classroom supplies and copy paper. “I had no idea they were coming,” said Ms. Roberts. “This is the best day of my life! ”
Students in Ms. Roberts’ class were in on the secret ahead of time, making posters and learning a cheer to share with their teacher once the announcement was made.
“With the economy today, it’s hard to buy supplies and it’s hard to ask parents to bring supplies in,” she said. “We try to keep everything minimal and I try to supply everything we will need. Seeing their faces today, I know this donation is just going to change their lives every day. It means a lot that they will have access to things they need in the classroom, especially the art supplies.”
The donated supplies include a printer, planners, a label maker, a digital camera, dry erase markers and a board, pens, a case of copy paper, and much more. In addition to surprising Ms. Roberts, the OfficeMax team also presented assistant principal Sara Schnoor with a box of supplies that her community had secretly donated to the school.
“A Day Made Better” is held annually in October, when OfficeMax associates surprise and honor more than 1,000 teachers at schools around the country with a total of $1 million worth of classroom supplies.