Office Depot Helps Teachers

And Office Depot is helping me help teachers, too. In my final post of this series, Office Depot is walking the talk. They provided me with a collection of classroom supplies packaged in a fabulous "Workmate" office-on-wheels bag and a $100 gift certificate to award to a special teacher or two.

Here's how I split the bounty:

If you've ever sat through an beginner band performance, you know there is a very special place in heaven for elementary school band directors. Simply teaching young children how to play and care for their instrument is a tremendous task. Combine that with coordinating the fledgling musicians to play en masse? Well, that takes a tremendous amount of patience and effort.

Ms. Saks, our school's band director teaches instrument play and musicianship in grades 4-8. She gives the job her all, getting to school early, leaving late and dipping into her own pockets whether it's to buy doughnuts for her students for an extra early morning practice session, band supplies, or classroom materials. She has high expectations and makes the kids work hard to meet them. And the band sounds fantastic.

She is such a gift to her students (even if they don't recognize it during yet another early morning practice), so it was exciting for me to give her a gift of a $100 to spend at Office Depot. She was so excited and has no shortage of ways to spend it to benefit her students.

When I first learned that Office Depot's REAL change campaign partnered with Adopt a Classroom.org, I clicked around the site to see which local schools already had active pages. I noticed that my son's former computer teacher, now a Chicago Public School teacher, and his colleagues from West Ridge Elementary School were taking advantage of this great site. I knew I wanted to share Office Depot's generosity with them, as well. 

This Saturday before the start of Scratch Day Chicago, I'm giving Brian Myers the super deluxe Workmate bag filled with school supplies from Office Depot and books  for the school library. The books came from local resale shops and made a brief appearance as centerpieces at my son's recent bar mitzvah. Once the books and supplies are removed bag Brian will have space to tote several laptops around with ease. That should come in handy because he also works with programs outside of school like Have Dreams.

It's not too late to tell your favorite teachers about Office Depot’s charity partner, AdoptaClassroom.org and participate in the REAL Change Project! What a great opportunity to be eligible for funding from donors around the country. And how fun would it be to surprise one of your former teachers with a gift through the site?

As a parent, I like when teachers take advantage of sites like this. Sometimes you want to do a little something for a teacher who has made that extra effort for your child and it's nice to know what they'd really like to help them continue to make a difference.


Disclosure: I am an Office Depot REAL Change blog ambassador. This post is part of a campaign where I was compensated for my time. To learn more about REAL Change, visit their website.

Happy Mother's Day!

It's hard to believe this is my 15th Mother's Day. I still remember the first one. We took out little bambino for a morning stroll at the Botanic Gardens. It was probably one of our first family outings. This year I'll start out the day with breakfast in bed taking my son to the synagogue at 9:00 to sell his seed bombs (he's halfway to his goal!) followed by a soccer game and dinner at my moms. I guess we'll celebrate with my in-laws on Saturday; I'll see what my husband has planned. Silly me, it's Mother's Day and I have to make the plans, right?



Here's another thing I never thought I'd say. "Honey, go ahead and get me a weed whacker for Mother's Day." But I did. I'm practical like that.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Feeling Buggy

A huge black bug scampered across the laundry room floor after I grabbed something from my son's clothes pile on the floor to toss in the washing machine. The critter quickly took cover under a plastic garbage bag that's supposed to be hanging from the laundry room door, but was also on the floor.

My heart pounding (did I mention it was huge?), I stomped all over the bag hoping that I was squishing whatever was beneath the bag. I pounded the floor with my foot several times (and possibly let out a scream and a curse or two) then quieted down to listen for the crunching sounding that would indicate the end of the dark creature's life.

When I felt confident enough to move the bag, I lifted it up to find...a shiny black bouncy ball of the type that comes out of a gumball machine. After breathing a sigh of relief and swearing under my breath (this time at my sloppy kids), I hung the trash bag in its rightful spot on the door and promptly deposited the ball inside.

Guess who will be cleaning their rooms and doing laundry tonight?

Take Action to End Gun Violence

Take action to end gun violence. Mayors Against Illegal Guns has a campaign running sharing 5 easy ways to get involved to stem the spread of illegal guns and the violence they cause. Click now to take a step toward ending gun violence.

Help a Teacher Out with Adopt A Classroom and Win

I wasn't kidding when I wrote that teaches around the country give their all to students each day. For many teachers, that means dipping into their own wallets, something that 92% of teachers report doing. Although teachers can write off up to $250 in classroom expenses on their federal taxes, the reality is that many spend much more than that --we're talking $1,000-- outfitting their classrooms and ensuring that all students have the supplies they need to succeed.

I once saw a teacher with a "giving tree" bulletin board in her classroom. Each paper apple on the tree listed an item she hoped to acquire for her room. The items ranged in price from a bottle of hand sanitizer to a classroom dictionary and beyond. It was a cute idea, but parents rarely enter the classroom. Here's something better: AdoptAClassroom.org. It's like a giving tree in the cloud, a wish list that can be accessed by almost anyone, at anytime, in any place.

As the second part of my work with Office Depot, I'm pleased to share that if you donate to a classroom as part of the REAL Change campaign, the recipient will be able to spend 100% of that money to secure school and classroom supplies at Office Depot. Nothing off the top, no transaction fees.

Whether you're a teacher or an outside helper, learn how you can get involved in the REAL Change campaign and sign on to Adopt A Classroom.

As you see in the graphic above, Office Depot is hosting a #TeachersChangeLives Pinterest Sweepstakes. Enter to win gift cards for you and your favorite teacher. Three winners will receive a $100 Office Depot gift card for each along with a $50 gift card for the teacher of your choice.

Create a board per the instructions above and then be sure to report your #TeachersChangeLives board here. Looking for examples? Check out Office Depot's board. Good luck!

Disclosure: I am an Office Depot REAL Change blog ambassador. This
post is part of a campaign where I was compensated for my time. 

When It Rains in Chicago, Overhead Sewers Provide Flood Control

Overhead sewers are not actually overhead, but they do provide good flood control to prevent (eeeeeewwwww) sewer system back-ups..in your house. As my husband challenged me when I questioned the significant installation expense of this for our new-to-us house, "Do you want to clean up our neighbor's poop from our basement during a big storm?"

No sir, I do not.

For your viewing enjoyment, I present the skinny on overhead sewers. The installation was a messy, messy process, but it does not involve poop, just digging up most of your front lawn to a depth of 5-8 feet. Maybe 10. It's been a while. Oh, ans then you have to deal with a big mess inside as well as 2 metric tons of dirt and clay that don't fit back into the ground.

If you'd like to read more about our experience with the installation of overhead sewer flood control (it's not a DIY job!), read my thought at the now-defunct Reluctant Renovator.



Fun Fact: Nearly two hundred people have watched this video since last week's deluge of rain.

My Favorite Teacher

I loved elementary school. My teachers, my friends, learning to read and being able to write my own stories- it was all good. I can look back and rattle off the names of half of dozen teachers who supported (and challenged) me.

But if you ask me now about my favorite teacher, which the folks at Office Depot asked me to do in this sponsored post, I'd have to say it was Mrs. Polko, my younger son's kindergarten teacher. Years ago I described her on this very blog as a woman who looked like a grandmother but had the energy of a toddler. She so embodied the spirit of Miss Frizzle that I was tempted to search the school parking lot for the Magic School Bus.

Mrs. Polko loved to learn and she loved to teach. In fact, she was once given a prestigious teaching award, but turned it down when she learned that it came with a six-month sabbatical that would require her to leave her young charges in the middle of a school year.

I'm the kind of old skool mom who thinks kids need to earn rewards, not just get them for showing up as often happens these days. But my heart melted when she held an end-of-year award ceremony for the class. Here's what I wrote about it in 2006:

This award ceremony was different. It was different because it was meaningful, not just to the parents, but to the children. Almost every award she gave out was delivered with very specific verbal praise for the recipient. As she addressed the children, I got this sense that I was watching them get imprinted for life. Mrs. P. has touched them deeply.

I recently saw a headline noting a positive correlation between a high quality kindergarten and later career earning. If this is the case, my younger boy is set to become a millionaire.

Millionaire or not, Mrs. Polko surely made a lifelong impact on my son. That's what a good teacher does. And Office Depot wants to help them. They are a presenting sponsor of the star-studded Artists for Education, a show featuring top acts highlighting the important role of teachers.

It's not airing in Chicago, but it will play on other CBS affiliates across the country on April 23, 2013 and can be accessed at REAL Change Watch the trailer below and tell me it didn't make you tear up--which is exactly how I felt when Mrs. P, now retired, told me that she would be able to join us at my son's bar mitzvah later this spring. I can't wait for her to see how far my son has come. I know she'll be kvelling alongside me.

There are many critics voicing concern about the state of education, heck I'm one of them, but behind the bureaucracy of our system are millions of classroom teachers giving it their all to educate students, day after day, year after year. Teachers change lives and you can help them. Learn more about Office Depot's REAL Change initiative

Disclosure: I am an Office Depot REAL Change blog ambassador. This post is part of a campaign where I was compensated for my time. To learn more about REAL Change, visit their website.