ROGERS, Ark. — Teachers with the Rogers School District got an unexpected but welcome surprise Friday (Sept. 25).
Educators at 10 different schools started the weekend off right with a $500 gift card from Academy Sports and Outdoors.
“It’s super cool, I feel like I do my job because I want to not necessarily because I have to, not like I’m going above and beyond," said Kim White, library media specialist for Tucker Elementary. "To have that acknowledged is pretty awesome.”
September is teacher appreciation at the sporting goods store.
Kirksey Middle School teacher Ryan Williams says he had no idea he had been nominated by his school.
“I didn’t think I was going to get anything like this and honestly I don’t feel like I deserve it, I just did something to make it easy on my fellow coworkers," Williams said.
Williams created a Google spreadsheet for his colleagues to make things easy to keep track of missing assignments from students.
“There's no negativity here so it’s always a positive outlook and we’re always helping each other and doing whatever we can to help students," Williams said.
Meanwhile, these teachers already have big plans for the money.
“We need books, we need more technology, we need things for our kiddos outside. It’s going to make everything fun for our kids," White said.
A well-earned gift for these classroom warriors.
“I have no idea at the moment. I‘m sure my daughter would love some new cleats or something so we’ll look into that," Williams said.
Academy is also donating $1,000 worth of sporting equipment to the school district.
All educators get a 10% discount this month at the store with a valid school ID.