Mark Indelicato-OfficeMax-A Day Made Better-Education-School SuppliesDid 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

Teacher-Education-OfficeMax-A Day Made BetterThis 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 by leaving a comment about a teacher you feel would greatly benefit from a $100 gift card from Office Max and why they should win.

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. https://bit.ly/3VUNvC PLS RT #omx
  • Nominate a teacher 2 win $100 in OfficeMax classroom supplies. Enter here: https://detroitmommies.com/?p=1775 PLS RT #omx
  • Join the “A Day Made Better” movement to end teacher-funded classrooms at https://bit.ly/UJ3LF #omx

More than 30 sites are participating in this campaign between now and Sunday, October 4. Visit https://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.
Detroit Mommies Expert Contributor
Courtney is the traveling mom! She has 3 girls and is the founder of Detroit Mommies and currently lives in Florida. You can follow her on Twitter @courtneyRVL.
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Vanessa R
Vanessa R
14 years ago

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 https://twitter.com/treesandshrubs/

Ginny
14 years ago

I would love to nominate my past daughters teacher, Ms. Patrona. She is amazing with the kids and meets all of your requirements. She is a young teacher with a ton of passion for her career. She is always thinking of unique ways to get the kids excited about learning. My daughter has always struggled with school, the year she had Ms Patrona was our best year yet. She deserves the help from Office Max!

MJ
MJ
14 years ago

I tweeted! @sumrthyme

MJ
MJ
14 years ago

I’m gonna be really tacky and nominate myself. I teach kindergarten in rural South Carolina. This is my 32nd year teaching! I love it as much today as I did when I started!
All of our school funds are frozen due to the budget cuts. With both of my sons in college, money at home is tight as well. The $100.00 would help buy crayons, pencils and paper for my students.
Thanks for your consideration!

mj.coward[at]gmail.com

melissa
14 years ago

i tweeted but i don’t know how to show my status on twitter. https://twitter.com/rockdrool

melissa
14 years ago

my husband is a language arts teacher in hazel park. he spends MINIMUM $1000/yr. on supplies and books for his classroom.
he is a tough teacher who makes learning fun and rewarding. his students love him and turn to him for guidance as well as education. when a class is only allowed 24 or 26 students, sometimes he has as many as 36 students enrolled for his classes.
my husband is a devoted educator who truly tries to make a difference.

LoneStarLifer
14 years ago

I also posted the three tweets on my Twitter page. https://twitter.com/lonestarlifer. Remember, Joe Hays!

LoneStarLifer
14 years ago

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: https://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.

Corrin
14 years ago

My MIL is an elementary school teacher in Gary, Indiana. Not only does she use her own money to buy supplies, fund classroom projects, and provide the children in her class the necessities that the school district doesn’t, you can imagine that the schools in Gary, Indiana aren’t the safest.

AB Smith
AB Smith
14 years ago

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

admin
admin
14 years ago

Stacy,
Just to let you know, there are two requirements in order to win the Office Max gift card. One is to leave a comment about a teachers that deserves to win (which you did) and the other requirement is to 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. https://bit.ly/3VUNvC PLS RT #omx
* Nominate a teacher 2 win $100 in OfficeMax classroom supplies. Enter here: https://detroitmommies.com/?p=1775 PLS RT #omx
* Join the “A Day Made Better” movement to end teacher-funded classrooms at https://bit.ly/UJ3LF #omx

Good Luck!

Stacy Brand
Stacy Brand
14 years ago

My mom, Linda Lipson, is a kindergarten teacher in Farmington Hills, Michigan. She is the most dedicated teacher I have ever met. Not only did she teach my sister and me how to read at an early age, she treats all her students like they were her own. She spends hours each evening at school getting ready for the next day and then even does work when she gets home. She also goes to school on the weekends.

If anyone can attest to her commitment to all her kids, it is her family. Luckily my dad is understanding and even helps her set-up and clean-up her classroom sometimes. He even comes to some of the parent/student programs my mom has in her classroom.

It’s a whole family effort and I am so proud that my mom has made a difference in the lives of hundreds of children (including mine)!

Stacy Brand