TO SHOW appreciation to their teachers, kids used to bring a shiny apple to leave sitting on their educator’s desk. They would run back to their chair and wait for the teacher to come in and see the surprise they left for them. It was exciting and thrilling to have the teacher compliment the apple that had been left specially for them. Nowadays, this excitement is still there, but looks a little different. Starbucks gift cards and scented candles have taken the place of the apple. Even more so, school supplies have been a big demonstration to show educators how much they mean to the families of the children they teach.
Before the 2020 school year, Tina Baker Corley started an ‘Adopt a Teacher’ campaign on Facebook to help assist public school teachers who had classroom needs following a very uncertain time; the world was returning to school after a worldwide pandemic.
“Each and every day our teachers are inspiring our young people. In many instances, our teachers may be the only source of positivity for many students. I started the Adopt a Teacher campaign as my way of saying thank you and to remind teachers of how much they are appreciated. They truly are shaping our future, one student at a time,” Tina said.
From mid-June to the end of July, the campaign runs strong. Teachers post their needs for others to see and help contribute.To date, over $75,000 of contributions have been bought for teachers with classroom needs. This year, Tina thought she would keep the campaign going and add to make it better. She reached out to local businesses to include them in the Facebook group.
“It’s a great opportunity for our local businesses to offer up a thank you to those who are truly the foundation of our future, our teachers,” Tina said. “This is a win for both local businesses and teachers. For a teacher to win a giveaway, they have to like the businesses Facebook page which ensures that they will see what those businesses market on their social media pages thereafter.”
The response from educators has been great!
“I have been overwhelmed by the expression of gratitude I’ve received as a result of this campaign. I’ve received countless messages from educators sharing how they’ve been able to have things in the classroom that might not have been possible without the generosity of our community. We asked our community to step up and they delivered,” Tina said.
You can help make a difference in students’ education by searching for ‘Bedford County, TN – Adopt a Teacher’ on Facebook. From there, you can scroll through the page and find teachers you would like to help with their classroom needs. If you are a teacher who would like to post a wishlist, simply create a post with the school you are affiliated with and paste the link to your Amazon wishlist for others to give through.
“What I have learned through this campaign is that people really do want to help, but they just don’t know how! Here’s your chance!” -GN
