I am an involved parent in my children’s PTO. I sometimes get to see what is behind the scenes that a lot of parents who aren’t involved see. Such as cuts in school programs and so forth. I am always looking for opportunities to try to raise money and or donations for things our school needs.
I am always thinking when I do product reviews about if it is something I can donate to the school after I am done with the review. I review a lot of books and ones that are appropriate I will donate when I am done.
I live in an area where we do have a Title 1 School. Where a lot of children don’t have books at home, or other supplies. Where a lot of parents work hard and live paycheck to paycheck. There isn’t a whole lot of money made by fundraisers because parents just cannot afford extra’s.
Most of the teachers live local too, so I know that they live okay, but not rich.
That said, I also know that they buy a lot of supplies on their own for the classrooms. I can imagine that this would add up and put a strain on their families as well.
We try and send in things like Clorox wipes and Kleenex for them, and I always make sure my kids have pencils and any extra’s in case there is a child who may need something.
So you can imagine when I was approached about helping with the OFFICE MAX MOMS campaign, I jumped at the chance to help out, and help out nationally with schools, just not in my own backyard.

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.

1. Nominate them through a blog post or on Whrrl.

Write a post on your blog.

• You can include photos, video, etc. but please stay under 400 words or 3 minutes.
• Please include these links: http://adaymadebetter.com or @adaymadebetter.
• Include a link to your post in the comments section.

OR

Create a story on Whrrl.com.

• Go to our custom Whrrl page at http://whrrl.com/search?q=omx, click “Start A Story” and upload photos and text about why your teacher is most deserving.
• Be sure to include the #omx hashtag in the text of your story.
• Post a link to your Whrrl story in the comments section.

2. Post these messages on Facebook and/or Twitter.

• 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: http://is.gd/3vqV5/span> 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!

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