Southern Aroostook Community School’s kindergarten teacher, Hiliary Lawlor, was surprised at an assembly.
“We were told to come to a presentation,” explained Lawlor. “Teachers and students were all very curious. I really don’t like surprises or not knowing about something.”
The administration had kept the reason for the assembly very quiet except to say it was “A Day Made Better.”
“It was a secret from all of us,” added Lawlor.
At the assembly, Lawlor discovered she was the reason for the assembly, as she was picked as the winner of $1,000 worth of school supplies from OfficeMax.
OfficeMax joined with AdoptAClassroom.org to create “A Day Made Better” program. It is a one-day event that awards more than 1,000 teachers with $1,000 in school supplies and brings attention to the issue of teacher-funded classrooms.
Since its inception, more than 6,700 teachers have been surprised and more than $8.85 million in supplies has been donated to classrooms across the country.
“I had no idea that the contest existed,” Lawlor added. “I was anonymously nominated for the contest. I was one of four teachers chosen in Maine for the award.”
Not only did Lawlor receive lots of supplies, but she also was given a certificate of appreciation for her dedication and passion to education.
Lawlor said when the OfficeMax employees wheeled an enormous box into her classroom that her children acted like it was Christmas morning.
“They could not wait to unpack the box and see all the supplies,” she said.
Inside the box were: an adult-sized cushioned office chair, flowers, a camera, a Kindle Fire HD, paper, binders, pencils, pens, markers, notebooks, scissors, tape, glue, calculator, erasers, paperclips, staples, containers, elastics and folders.
Lawlor noted that the office chair was a welcomed asset to the kindergarten-sized chairs.
“I was honored and appreciated the supplies,” she said. “To be a teacher, you have to be part of a large team, without the support of my co-workers and administration I would not be able to dedicate so much to education. Therefore, as I unpacked my supplies I found things to share with my co-workers and I added items to our community supply closet.”
“Hiliary is very deserving of this award,” said SACS Elementary School Principal Margaret White.
Lawlor not only teaches, she is a member of the pre-K to second grade Professional Learning Community; the SACS Elementary Leadership Team and is one of the original founders of the SACS Elementary Parent Teacher Organization, all while she and her husband are busy raising their two sons.
“Hilary is always looking for a way for SACS to be a leader in the community, bringing about positive experiences for all our students during and after school hours,” added White.
Lawlor discovered her students were “thrilled to sit in the comfy chair” at their student-led conferences.
“This week, the students were able to play alphabet games on the Kindle Fire and one child said, ‘I have been waiting to play on your new kindle, this is going to be a really good day.’ Throughout the elementary, children I taught in previous years congratulated me, and seemed to have “A Day Made Better” by this and that was the true reward.
“I want to thank the thoughtful person who nominated me, it was an honor,” she added.
“This award is a nice recognition of how all teachers go above and beyond to support their students,” said White. “It also acknowledges the financial sacrifice teachers make to help supply their own classrooms. For one of our teachers to receive $1,000 worth of supplies was an added bonus.”
