"A Day Made Better" Office Max Teacher Giveaway

Every year, when classes start, our school holds a Back-to-School night. Parents visit their kids' classrooms, where the teacher gives a short presentation about what the class will be learning throughout the year and what sorts of activities they'll be doing. It's also a chance to sign up for volunteer activities or donate classroom supplies. Most teachers put out a "wish list" of supplies like printer ink, markers, wipes, and other supplies they need to keep the classroom running, and parents sign up to donate specific items. By the end of Back-to-School night, most or all of the items on the wish list are usually spoken for.

I know we're the lucky ones. We live in a district with some fairly affluent residents who support our public schools, and we have a dedicated PTA who raises funds and keeps our school well supplied with necessities for the teachers and kids. We also have parents who can afford to donate the rest. But that's certainly not the case in many other areas around the country. My blogging friend Heather, a.k.a. Tween Teacher, who I met two years ago at the Back-to-School webcast with OfficeMax, told me that many, many teachers actually have to buy school supplies -- with their own money -- for the kids they teach. I've since learned that teachers are now spending an average of $1,000 out-of-pocket annually on classroom supplies to offset budget shortfalls; this figure was first cited by a National Education Association survey in 2005 and confirmed by an OfficeMax survey of teachers in June 2009.

Speaking of OfficeMax, I'm once again joining forces with them in their annual Day Made Better campaign to donate school supplies to teachers, so they spend less time worrying about supplies and more time teaching kids. Tomorrow, October 4, OfficeMax will be surprising more than 1,000 dedicated teachers at Title 1 schools across the nation today, with $1 million worth of classroom supplies – that's $1,000 per classroom!


I am so excited and honored to be a part of this program! As an OfficeMax Max Mom, I'll be doing the following:

* I'll be joining some OfficeMax associates at a local school to help surprise a local teacher with $1,000 in classroom supplies.

* I'll be surprising a teacher of my choice with $100 in school supplies in a mini Day Made Better box.

* I'm hosting a giveaway below so that one of my readers can conduct a Day Made Better surprise for their own favorite teacher!



How You Can Help

* Organize your own Day Made Better surprise for your favorite teacher! Gather together a box of new school supplies, or purchase a discounted box of school supplies through Adopt-A-Classroom and A Day Made Better.

* Donate directly to your favorite teacher's classroom through Adopt-A-Classroom

* Spread the word about A Day Made Better.

* Join the giveaway below!


Stay tuned for more posts on this week's A Day Made Better events. I'm looking forward to surprising some very worthy teachers!


Nominate Your Teacher to Win a $50 OfficeMax gift card
Office Max is going to help you make your favorite teacher's day better! You too can join in this cause and give back to a deserving teacher by nominating your favorite teacher to receive a $50 Office Max gift card for school supplies.

Required Entry
Leave a comment on this post and nominate a deserving teacher you know. Please describe in your comment how this teacher has positively impacted your life or the community. This entry must be completed before extra entries qualify.


Extra Entries
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry with a way to verify the entry (i.e. tweet link, blog post link, Facebook id, Twitter id, etc.).

1) Leave a comment on my Day Made Better recap post on Finding Bonggamom.

2) Leave a comment on my Day Made Better post #2, which will go live on Oct. 6 (1 entry).

3) Write a comment on the Bonggamom Finds Facebook page and tell me why you support the "A Day Made Better" cause (1 entry).

4) Follow A Day Made Better on Twitter and tweet this, up to once per day (1 entry per day, leave a comment with the tweet link for each tweet):

RT @bonggafinds Win $50 for school supplies for a deserving teacher fr @ADayMadeBetter ! http://ow.ly/6LYMl #giveaways #MaxMoms

5) Write this on the A Day Made Better Facebook page (1 entry):
You could win $50 to buy OfficeMax school supplies for your favorite teacher! Enter by Oct. 20 on Bonggamom Finds at http://ow.ly/6LYMl


The Rules
This giveaway ends at 11:59PM PST on October 20, 2011; I will draw a winner at random on October 21 and post the winner's name after the winner confirms acceptance. Note: I will be asking the winner for the teacher's name, school name and email address so I can verify that the gift card will be sent to a deserving teacher. US addresses only . For additional giveaway rules, click here. Thanks for supporting this great cause!

Disclosure: I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post or participation in the program. The school supplies and gift cards for the giveaway are provided by OfficeMax. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.