In February, Sheryl Crow and AdoptAClassroom.org surprised Kennett High School teachers and students at a morning pep rally. With the help of Farmer’s Insurance, we awarded each teacher $600 for classroom supplies. Today Show for their Show Heart Today series.
After the Pep Rally, Sheryl sat down with Chief Operating Officer of AdoptAClassroom.org, Ann Pifer, to discuss the importance of teachers. Check out what Sheryl had to say:
What motivated you to contact AdoptAClassroom.org and say “hey I want to help you guys out?”
Well I’m a former teacher, I come from a family of school teachers, and I had this very unique idea of trying to encourage businesses to help support teachers in the classroom. I even had this idea for Adopt-A-Classroom. So, just to make sure that didn’t already exist I went online, and guess what, it existed already. We reached out to you guys who were already doing that great groundwork and I wanted to get the profile so large that people across the nation would know that they would be able to easily help support their communities of teachers to outfit their classrooms.
We’ve talked about how teachers spend about an average of $600 of their own money on school supplies each year. It sounds like a lot of people don’t know about that, but you were already well familiar with that problem.
I went out with my older sister, who is still teaching music in the St. Louis school system. She was trying to buy things for her classroom and she came upon something that was out of her budget. I said “let me help you with that,” and she said “no no no no.” She couldn’t afford to buy the things out of her salary to fit her classroom. I just thought that’s ridiculous, this is the most important job that exists. So that’s where AdoptAClassroom.org comes in and it’s an amazing organization. I’m really proud to be pairing up with you guys.
Since partnering with AdoptAClassroom.org as a spokesperson, Sheryl has drawn national attention to the funding issues that many teachers face. AdoptAClassroom.org is excited to see how Sheryl’s passion for education will continue to help classrooms in need.
Do you want to help Sheryl raise a hand for teachers? Find a teacher in need of supplies using our classroom search tool.
Are you a teacher? Register with AdoptAClassroom.org today to raise funds for your classroom.