It’s a new year, which means it’s time to make New Year’s resolutions in both your personal and professional lives. To help you bring about change in your classroom in 2019, we decided to wrap up 2018 and welcome this year by announcing the winners of our #10FeaturedTeachers giveaway!
We loved WeAreTeachers’ #10FeaturedTeachers initiative, which originally aimed to give 10 teachers a chance to win a gift card for school supplies. But with teachers facing low salaries and schools across the nation struggling for funding, the HMH team wanted to make an even greater difference in educators’ lives. So we partnered with WeAreTeachers to give back to 100 teachers! It’s our way of saying thank you to those who impact students’ lives every day.
Teachers needed to take photos of themselves or their classrooms, tell us in a few sentences why they needed funding for school supplies, and then share their post on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtags #10FeaturedTeachers and #ShapeTheFuture. Winners—chosen at random—will get a $50 Amazon gift card!
We’re thrilled to say we received more than 450 submissions! What teachers said they would use the funds for varied widely—from transforming their classroom into more vibrant learning spaces, to helping students prepare for college, to adding books to a classroom library.
WeAreTeachers recently announced the winners on their Twitter and Instagram. Here’s a glimpse at five of the winning posts:
#10FeaturedTeachers if selected, I would use the Amazon gift card to supply more materials for students in my clubs. Pride Club makes a difference in so many children’s lives — help me secure LGBT friendly literature/media for my classroom! #ShapeTheFuture @WeAreTeachers pic.twitter.com/XWjRuCoXMY
— Samantha Sgroi (@Samantha_Sgroi) November 21, 2018
I am a high school science teacher and our lab has a lot of old or missing equipment. We’re even missing a faucet! #10featuredteachers #ShapeTheFuture pic.twitter.com/L6O8LNEKtT
— JWagner (@JWags1223) November 27, 2018
Here in 2nd grade we love our classroom and we love learning even more, but we would love more seating options to make our learning more comfortable. #2ndgrade #givingtuesday #10featuredteachers #ShapeTheFuture pic.twitter.com/jG61IGj1YM
— Sarah Bustos (@MrsBustos7) November 21, 2018
I’ve been blessed to teach for 11 yrs at the same low income school. I have a ton of respect for my students and families bc they show me the true meaning of perseverance. TY for the opportunity to help my students! #10featuredteachers #ShapetheFuture @HMHCo @WeAreTeachers pic.twitter.com/VK9yI076XD
— Kelsey Ellens (@MrsEllens) November 21, 2018
I love my students! I am always looking for ways to get more books in their hands! #10featuredteachers #ShapeTheFuture @WeAreTeachers @LeadAndLearn pic.twitter.com/AZBHEBEKIy
— Kristen Bruck (@MrsKBruck) December 17, 2018
And here’s a look at how some teachers felt after hearing that they were named winners:
Doing my happy teacher dance!!! 💃 #woohoo #giftcard #thankssomuch #teacher #youdontknowhowmuchineedthis @WeAreTeachers pic.twitter.com/NVPk1K4n5M
— Kathryn Vaughn (@MissKatieDi) December 21, 2018
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! ❤️
— Kelsey Ellens (@MrsEllens) December 21, 2018
I won!! I’m so happy!!! Thank you, @WeAreTeachers https://t.co/kV16m0LD6a
— Bobbi Strickland (@BobbiJS77) December 21, 2018
See a list of all of our winners below. And there are plenty of other ways we’re expressing our gratitude to teachers. Check out more of them on our blog.