Adkins Elementary art teacher , Kelley McGee , celebrates being ‘ within pennies ’ of spending her entire $ 400 gift card on new things for her students .
Gift of heART
Story and photos by Julie Zwahr
Donation helps elementary art teachers restock supplies
It ’ s not unusual to see a group of ladies clean out the shelves of a Michaels arts and crafts store in December . What is unique is for the shopping spree to be free and courtesy of an athletic conference !
The shopping spree was able to take place courtesy of Conference USA ’ s Extra Yard for Teachers program . The athletic conference provided each of its 14 members with $ 10,000 worth of Michaels gift cards to give to teachers in need in each of the universities ’ geographic area .
Denton ISD elementary school art teachers were joined by student-athletes and cheerleaders from the University of North Texas to take part in a $ 10,000 shopping spree at the Michaels at Denton Crossing .
“ This gift means our kids get to do a lot of projects we wouldn ’ t normally afford because we have a list of basic supplies we receive and I ’ m focusing on getting the ‘ little extras ,’” said Jamie McCormick from Rivera Elementary .
While other universities chose to allot that donation to a single campus , UNT Athletics sought to find a way to deliver the biggest impact . A longtime district partner through the Denton ISD Adopt-A-School program , UNT
16