Like many teachers, Katherine Holland was getting anxious thinking of ways to prepare for the school year ahead. Mrs. Holland is a sixth grade teacher at Clinton Middle School in Tulsa, OK. Often her students can use an extra hand to get the school year.
“I have 130 students, most come from five housing projects and 98% of students are on free and reduced lunch,” she said.
However, things are going to be a bit brighter for her class this upcoming school year.
Over the summer, Mrs. Holland was recovering from foot surgery and trying to avoid the anxiety of purchasing supplies for the upcoming school year.
“Having surgery in the summer makes me sad,” she said. “Being inside all day and then realizing I don’t have money to buy supplies for my students makes me even more depressed about the upcoming school year.”
But after checking in on her AdoptAClassroom.org account, Mrs. Holland’s attitude completely shifted. “I was in shock to find that Lane Bryant had made a $500 donation to my classroom.”
Mrs. Holland’s supply list was simple; a heavy-duty stapler, pencils, erasers and dry erase markers. Before the donation, she knew she didn’t have the funds to buy any of these things. Now Mrs. Holland was able to purchase the items on her list plus a commercial-grade pencil sharpener and four lamps to light up her classroom.
“We use a lot of projector-based lessons and when you turn off the lights in my classroom it goes totally pitch black, so adding lamps allows the kids to work,” she said.
For Mrs. Holland and thousands of other teachers, it’s more than the money that makes teachers so appreciative.
“It’s more than the money,” she said. “It’s the fact that somebody believes in what I do. When you hear on the news how bad teachers are, people don’t know that we’re the lifeline to these kids. And getting something like this makes me feel so fortunate and excited about the future.”
You can read Mrs. Holland’s classroom page here. There are thousands of teachers waiting to be adopted. Click here to find them!
Do you have an awesome Classroom Success Story you would like to share with us? Please contact Program Coordinator Melissa Hruza at [email protected]!
