::GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED:: Congratulations, Darryl Copeland of Rome High School in Georgia!
I am so thrilled to tell you about the “A Day Made Better” program and contest that can help your local teacher in need. I feel blessed to be a “Max Mom” and being a part of this wonderful cause.
Did you know teachers spend an average of $1200 of their own money on classroom supplies each year? That’s $4 billion annually! That’s why OfficeMax joined with Adopt-A-Classroom to create “A Day Made Better“—a 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 the “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 in a comment.
Leave a comment, telling us about a deserving teacher you would like to nominate. Why do they deserve this this prize?
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 CST. 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.
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About Mom Spark
Susan Bischer on 
rebecca on 
MannaB on 
Wow — what a fantastic idea! Being a former teacher (now stay at home mom), I know that 100 dollars can go a LONG way!
Erin
http://www.krugsecologic.com
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As a former teacher I would have LOVED this. 100 bucks goes a LONG way for supplies !
ERin
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kids in college..paper =printer ink…yikes…could i use this
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this will come in handy this fall when I need more ink for my printer..thanks!
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My Nominee: Jared Fox, my son
When he left for college two states away four years ago, I thought the time would fly by and he’d be home before I knew it. He graduated in May and was home for two short weeks before he left for his teaching assignment in New Orleans. Jared had applied to Teach for America his final year in college. Teach for America is a federal program and I call it the Peace Corp for Teachers. Teachers in Teach for America are sent to areas of the United States that are less affluent and need quality teachers for their students. Jared was allowed to list his top three choices of states to teach and he was chosen to teach high school English in New Orleans. While teaching was something that he discovered he loved later in his college years, his enthusiasm for his subject matter and his students is infectious. He and I spent a almost an hour on the phone discussing books we’ve read in the past that he wants to share with his students. He’s also taking my love of sweepstaking and incorporating it into his teaching life by offering “prizes” for good test scores and extra credit assignments…prizes he’s paying for out of his own pocket. He frequently keeps candy on his desk for his students and I know those first few weeks of school, Jared spent a lot of time at the retail stores buying notebooks, folders and pens for students who couldn’t afford them; the parish Jared teaches in is one where the families are really struggling financially and many of his students hold jobs to bring in income for their families. Jared hadn’t even gotten his first paycheck yet and called me to borrow some money so he could buy more notebooks for his students.
I know Jared spends most of his weekend coming up with creative learning techniques to make English fun for his students; he’s working on an interactive book report project where students can either dress up, use the computer, or even make puppets to give their oral book report. He frequently calls me to bounce new ideas off me to make learning fun for his students.
As his mom, I was very apprehensive to learn he’d be living in a place where he knows no one and had no friends or family there to lean on. I’m very proud of Jared and the dedication he’s shown to his students and his new school and seeing him so happy teaching has really eased my mind worrying about him settling into a new place without me.
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Tweeted:
http://twitter.com/auntiethesis/status/4341074923
http://twitter.com/auntiethesis/status/4341083402
http://twitter.com/auntiethesis/status/4341119328
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I nominate my son’s teacher. She has had both of my boys in her special needs classroom over the last 5 years. 2 yrs with first son and now on 3rd yr with #2. She is so giving and takes so much time with them!
thanks for sponsoring this.
2kidsblogger(at)gmail(dot)com
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http://twitter.com/2kidsblogger/status/4382540818
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http://twitter.com/2kidsblogger/status/4382943083
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http://twitter.com/2kidsblogger/status/4382974992
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wow, great contest
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I would like to nominate my friend Diane. She is an art teacher and very dedicated to her students. She spends a ton of money out of her pocket to ensure the projects she does with students are fun as well as educational. Unlike a classroom teacher she serves the entire school and not just a classroom of 20 or so students.
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Joe Hays teaches in a high-poverty inner-city St. Louis, MO elementary school. Joe has named his students the Superstars and is teaching them to live up to that name. He has created a cool, colorful learning space for the kids, all with his own money. Get this: he even has to buy his own COPY paper!!! He is currently plastering the classroom walls with college/univ t-shirts and pennants to encourage his students to think about and work towards college, not something usually considered in their environment. Joe is a person who believes in people and their possibilities, and those Superstars are so blessed to have him as their teacher.
For more info on Joe, I have a blog entry about him and the Superstars: http://lonestarlifer.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/real-superstars/
Thanks so much for having this giveaway. I would so love to show those kids that there are folks out there who DO care about their future.
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I also posted the three tweets on my Twitter page:
http://twitter.com/lonestarlifer
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I would like to nominate my husband Darryl Copeland who is an outstanding teacher in an inner city school. he is a teacher who sees teaching as more than just a profession. For Darryl, teaching is a calling. He is the type of teacher who will pay for a student to go on a field trip out of his own pocket rather than have them miss out on a learning opportunity. Together we shop sales all year long so our students can have the school supplies our students need but their families cannot afford. He is not the type of man who is looking for the recognition. The success of each student is his reward but I wanted to let you and the whole world know what a wonderful teacher he is.
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Amy Bellgardt Reply:
October 9th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Darryl has won! I need to get some info from you! Congrats!
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I’d love to nominate my daughters teacher Ms. Mavel.
This being the first year of Kindergarten Ms, Mavel has made the transition easy on both the kids and hte parents. Providing fun and educational classes and encouraging the parents to be involved.
I love the time she takes with both the parents and the children that’s always important!
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all 3 tweets done, here’s the last tweet http://twitter.com/wrestlingaddict/status/4590775265
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I nominate Thomas Trettel for the Office Max as he is a dedicated teacher and cares about the children’s learning and is dedicated and passionate about his teaching profession for some 25 yrs now!
electricisland(at)gmail.com
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Tweets:
http://twitter.com/electricisland/status/4597238779
http://twitter.com/electricisland/status/4597257884
http://twitter.com/electricisland/status/4597268967
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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.
Tweets posted on http://twitter.com/treesandshrubs/
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Ms. B thought becoming a Special Educator would be a rewarding way to help children with special needs. Little did she know that she would become not only educator for these children, but also potty-trainer, disciplinarian, provider of food, and hairdresser. Most of Ms. B’s students come from very low income and broken homes. Homes that cannot afford the stress of any children, let alone children that require intensive therapy and behavioral support. Ms. B has opened her classroom door and her arms to loving these children like a mother. She’s even been known to visit these kids for Sunday dinner.
Ms. B deserves recognition for the amazing way that she runs her classroom and provides for her students. After spending 3 years with her, some parents cry at the thought that their child must move onto another teacher!
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tweets:
http://twitter.com/speech_hero/status/4611351306
http://twitter.com/speech_hero/status/4611356353
http://twitter.com/speech_hero/status/4611361289
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I nominate my sister Mel who works for FBISD. She goes out of her way to help students as well as teachers. She’s beloved in the teaching community and inspires everyone with her selflessness.
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Here is my tweet: http://twitter.com/spektorish/status/4619960522
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I would like to nominate my Art Education teacher and advisor, Dr. Patricia Coleman. The title in her name alone shows how dedicated she is to education and providing the best kind for her students.
As an incoming freshman I was scared, intimidated, and unsure of myself as a college student and an artist. But she immediately made me feel welcome as an Art Ed major. She is incredibly down to earth, has an open mind, and definitely thinks outside of the box with her lessons. Every semester she teaches a novel lesson plan, no one is the same, and she tries her best to avoid simple rhetoric recital out of textbooks. This semester she has embraced the best book in order to prepare myself and other Art Ed. students for the Praxis test, which shows how flexible she is willing to be against her own ideals.
If I have a problem or need to talk, she is there. When I have questions related to class, outside activities, or life, she is available and ready to help. She gave me wonderful recommendations for scholarship opportunities, and is always full of advice to improve my chances of being a great student. She reminds me of my lovely art teacher in high school. I nominate Dr. Coleman for her amazing work, and how much she has helped me as a student and a person for the past one-and-a-half years I’ve been at my university. Funds are getting tight here, so she isn’t able to participate in Art Educational events or always get the tools she needs, without using personal expenses.
I sincerely hope she can receive this gift, for it will only help her help us with our academic and artistic endeavors. Thank you for the consideration and the opportunity.
~Laura
spektorish @ gmail . com
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I nominated Mr Thompson who teaches social studies. I posted it on my blog.
http://donna444444.blogspot.com/2009/09/day-made-better.html
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i nominate my grandsons 1st grade teacher:) she is so nice every morning 2 put up with my grandson who has anxiety attacks when his mom takes him 2 school. she is so patience with him:)
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I tweeted:
http://twitter.com/donnak4/status/4621359291
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tweeted:
http://twitter.com/donnak4/status/4621393603
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Tweeted:
http://twitter.com/donnak4/status/4621404499
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