Shotwell Middle Teacher Receives Classroom Surprise From OfficeMax’s ‘A Day Made Better’

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Principal Mable Holt (far left), teacher Novelita Pangilinan (seated in new chair) and Maria Birch (holding folder), manager of the OfficeMax-Willowbrook store location are seen in the image. OfficeMax representatives surprised Pangilinan during the company’s “A Day Made Better” initiative.

Novelita Pangilinan, an eighth grade English teacher at Shotwell Middle School, received a surprise visit from OfficeMax last week. OfficeMax awarded the school with $1,100 worth of classroom supplies. The event, which took place October 1, was part of the seventh annual [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]OfficeMax “A Day Made Better” program. The national initiative aims to relieve and support teachers who spend their own money on much-needed classroom supplies. OfficeMax donated the school supplies to schools across the country where teachers were honored through company’s program.

Maria Birch, store manager of the OfficeMax-Willowbrook location, along with four of her staff members surprised Pangilinan with the school supplies that included a new office rolling chair, a Kindle Fire HD, a Canon camera, a Brother label maker, a Casio calculator, and more than 20 various types of office and school supplies (i.e. markers, paper reams, scissors, glue bottles, journals, binders, post-it notes, and folders).

After the presentation in Pangilinan’s classroom, Shotwell Middle administrators and staff displayed their gratitude for the much-needed supplies by presenting Birch and the OfficeMax representatives with a plaque as a token of appreciation from the school. Pangilinan was among 1,000 teachers nationally who were nominated by their principals or colleagues for their extraordinary efforts in the classroom.

Lauren Zufall, library paraprofessional at Shotwell Middle, nominated Pangilinan to be honored.

“Her dedication to her students is amazing!” exclaimed Zufall. “She approaches each day with a smile and loves her students. She inspires the students to do their best and reach for their goals.

“With more than 80% of our students being economically disadvantaged, she spends so much out of her own pocket. She was so pleased and honored to receive this award.”

This year, OfficeMax and its customers donated nearly $1.7 million in supplies to benefit teachers and schools through the company’s “A Day Made Better” initiative. The goal of the program is to erase teacher-funded classrooms.

On average, teachers spend $1,000 out of pocket on essential classroom supplies each year. The OfficeMax “A Day Made Better” program, in partnership with its nonprofit partner AdoptAClassroom.org, aims to help end the need for teacher-funded classrooms. Since 2007, “A Day Made Better” and other OfficeMax Goodworks programs have contributed more than $25 million in grants and supplies to support more than 31,000 teachers and their classrooms. Additionally, through the annual event, OfficeMax has helped its nonprofit partner [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]AdoptAClassroom.org secure funding for more than 100,000 classrooms nationwide.

“Teachers and education are a part of the crucial infrastructure necessary to build a promising future for our children, and yet many teachers and schools face significant challenges to make ends meet in the classroom due to budget shortfalls,” said Carolynn Brooks, vice president, chief diversity officer and president of the OfficeMax Charitable Foundation.

“OfficeMax is proud to host ‘A Day Made Better,’ where we join our customers in helping teachers and schools secure the supplies they need to succeed.”

Principal Mable Holt is seen with Store Manager Maria Birch and four staff members from Office Max-Willowbrook as they arrived at the campus to surprise eighth grade teacher Novelita Pangilinan.