UCO Education Students Raise Money to Support Metro Teachers with Classroom Supplies

  • University of Central Oklahoma College of Education and Professional Studies students surprised four metro teachers, all recent UCO education graduates, with classroom supplies as part of its Adopt-A-Teacher program. Pictured, left to right: Zoe Cardenas, an early childhood education major from Yukon, Oklahoma; Kenzie Holland, an elementary education major from Midwest City, Oklahoma; Kitty Stuber, a teacher at James L. Dennis Elementary School in Putnam City, Oklahoma; and, Jill Davis, Ph.D., UCO associate
    University of Central Oklahoma College of Education and Professional Studies students surprised four metro teachers, all recent UCO education graduates, with classroom supplies as part of its Adopt-A-Teacher program. Pictured, left to right: Zoe Cardenas, an early childhood education major from Yukon, Oklahoma; Kenzie Holland, an elementary education major from Midwest City, Oklahoma; Kitty Stuber, a teacher at James L. Dennis Elementary School in Putnam City, Oklahoma; and, Jill Davis, Ph.D., UCO associate

    University of Central Oklahoma College of Education and Professional Studies students surprised four metro teachers, all recent UCO education graduates, with classroom supplies as part of its Adopt-A-Teacher program.

    The student organization, Central Association for Responsive Educators (CARE), is led by early childhood and elementary education majors at Central. Through the program, students raise funds through various events and select recipients from an application process that is open to all UCO education alumni.

    "We believe it is so important for teachers to be rewarded for all their hard work," said Kenzie Holland, an elementary education major and CARE officer from Midwest City, Oklahoma.

     "All of the CARE officers and advisers were filled with so much joy being able to see the big smiles on the teachers' and students' faces when receiving all the supplies. We love supporting our own UCO alumni with tools that can help each child be more successful in the classroom."

    As part of the program, teachers submit lists of needed supplies, including books, toys and other learning materials that are then purchased by CARE officers and delivered to the classrooms as a surprise to the applicant. One recipient, Kitty Stuber from Putnam City Public Schools, had specifically requested items to help promote a more diverse education setting in her elementary classroom.

    "This was such a wonderful surprise, and I was gifted more than I ever could've hoped for," Stuber said.

    "I teach in a diverse elementary school and am always looking for ways to celebrate this diversity. The gifts of baby dolls of different ethnicities, skin color paints and markers, and several new [multicultural] books will help me meet my goal of making sure every child feels special, loved and celebrated for who they are."

    The recipients of the 2021 Adopt-A-Teacher program were Kristen Atchley, Stoneridge Elementary in Piedmont, Oklahoma; Tamesha Rayes, Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City; Angela Stephenson, Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City; and, Stuber, James L. Dennis Elementary in Putnam City, Oklahoma.

    For more information about CARE and the Adopt-A-Teacher program, contact Rachel Baugh at 405-974-5408.

    For more information about the UCO College of Education and Professional Studies, visit www.uco.edu/ceps.

     

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