Giveaway – Make Today Better for a Teacher with Office Max

I am not a teacher.  At least not in the traditional sense.  I’m a Mommy – so, I do teach – but my responsibility lies mainly in my own home and doesn’t extend to shaping the minds of other little ones on a daily basis.  A teacher’s job is tremendous – the responsibility is fantastic.

And they don’t do it for the money.  They do it to make a difference.  They do it because they love kids.

frances-s-tucker-elem_yalisalazar2-1Did 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 6th.  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 have 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

robertblackmagnetschool_chicago_jenniferjacobs-1This 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 have some options.

(Note: post a separate comment for each entry.)

1. Leave a comment right there on this post with your teacher nomination. Please share their name, the city where they teach, the grade they teach and WHY they deserve to win.

OR

 

2. 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 for Office Max and A Day Made Better, 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.

(Note: Be sure to leave comments here with links to your messages.)
  • 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: PUT YOUR POST URL HERE 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 youíd like to meet the team behind the cause: @officemax, @adaymadebetter and @Adopt_Classroom. Hope to see you there!

Fine Print

Entries are due Sunday, October 4 by midnight PDT. No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected by me based on the entry that in my opinion meets the above criteria. OfficeMax, Adopt-A-Classroom and Mom It Forward play no part in choosing the winner of this giveaway. OfficeMax, Adopt-A-Classroom, and Mom It Forward employees are ineligible to enter. In a spirit of fairness, my personal friends and family members are also ineligible. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered. The winner will be notified and have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the email. If no response is received within 24 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to participants in the U.S. 18 years and older.

Mom it Forward – Why Moms Matter

She is drive, determination and discipline personified.

She is motivated to make a difference in the world – any way she can.

It is this calm but focused spirit that drove Carissa Rogers to nominate Jyl Pattee as a Mom Who Matters.

jyl-and-carissa_for-about-page“I can tell you first hand that she truly cares about people and not in that fake kind of way,” Carissa explained in her nomination. ” And Carissa should know – she and Jyl have partnered on a one-of-a-kind website and social media driven community – MomItForward.

Their goal is “to change the world one mom at a time by focusing on three pillars: me, mom, and my world.” Carissa and Jyl believe changing the world starts with you.  They contend your ability to impact the world is magnified by your desire to care for yourself.

But where does this passion to ‘change the world’ come from? “My parents instilled in me a love of serving and a sense….almost a duty…of being actively involved and doing my part, ” Jyl explains. Calling her mom the ‘rock’ of her family, Jyl credits her love, her commitment to her family and her ability to keep her chin up to the woman who raised her.

The lesson in ‘keeping her chin up’ has been especially handy.

Diagnosed with Epilepsy at age 14, Jyl spent years denying the disease.  It wasn’t until a very public seizure at the age of 23 forced her to come to terms with the condition. At that time,  she was able to truly embrace the notion that nothing could hold her back.  During that seizure, Jyl fell and broke her jaw in 3 places.  A mere three months later, a fall fractured her skull and left her with an epidural hematoma.  That hematoma could have killed her, but fast acting EMTs recognized the problem and likely saved her life.

Jyl’s epilepsy is completely controlled by medication, so she says she is not forced to deal with the day-to-day of the condition as many patients are. 

mom-and-boys_looking-away1A mom to 2 beautiful, healthy boys – Chase is 8 and Connor is 6 – Jyl does not take her role lightly.  She was faced with an excruciating decision when she decided to have children – as she was not able to go off her medication during pregnancy. Jyl was very concerned about birth defects. Fortunately, both boys are perfect.

Jyl now works to balance an extremely full schedule – a family to take care of and a growing social community to oversee and expand.  With the help of her husband, they make sure they carve out both family time and couple time each week. And it is her mom who gets a little extra credit here too – for reminding her kids playing in a messy house is more important than having a clean house that isn’t conducive to play.

MomItForward is adding success after success to its resume – including a thriving social event – GNO or Girl’s Night Out – held every Tuesday evening on Twitter.  Each week the community exchange focuses on one topic.  As many as 500 people have joined in at one time. 

Also to their credit, Jyl and Carissa are proud of the ‘mom it forward’ events happening all over the United States: raising $15 Thousand  and a ton of awareness for http://yehu.org and http://basabody.comwhich will go towards helping mompreneurs have sustainable incomes in Mombasa, Kenya, raising $1500 for  FeedingAmerica.org to provide Thanksgiving dinners to hungry families, as well as a number of family oriented service projects.

Be sure to visit MomItForward to learn more.

Join us today (Friday!) on Why Moms Matter on BlogTalkRadio at 12:30PDT/2:30CDT to learn more about Jyl and her passion for MomItForward.

If you know a Mom Who Matters, nominate her!