Bedford County Adopta-Teacher is back for the 3rd year! This little idea that began with the faith of a mustard seed back in June of 2020 has grown into something so spectacular for our local public school teachers.  

The concept is quite simple. As a teacher you become a member of the Facebook page, create an Amazon wish list for your classroom needs and share that wish list to our page. That wish list is then shared by the teacher from our page to the teacher’s personal Facebook page. In most instances, the sharing continues to occur thereafter. That’s how we’ve grown our group so successfully.  

People are invited to view the teachers’ wish lists, choose items to purchase and the item is shipped directly to the teacher! It’s takes only a minute to make a difference! It’s simple.  

Adopt-a-Teacher helps to set the teacher up for success as they embark upon a new school year. This Facebook page not only helps them with the purchase of classroom supplies that they often pay for out of pocket, but teachers also receive an enormous morale booster by how engaged our community is in their giveback efforts.  

The campaign runs for just over 6, very intense, weeks and is spearheaded solely by me, Tina Corley.  

When people visit our page, they are guaranteed to find JOY! It’s even a page rule that spreading kindness is rule number 1. Everything else follows suit if kindness is at the forefront of our mission. And because I manage the page, I single-handedly guarantee it!  

I get countless private messages from teachers locally sharing how much the group means to them. Retiring the need for classroom supplies is fantastic, but feeling appreciated for what they bring to our community is immeasurable. THAT is why I work so hard to drive a successful campaign.  

Last year alone, throughout the 6 week campaign, nearly $45,000 in classroom supplies and teacher giveaways were raised. Local businesses have been very responsive when I’ve reached out to ask for giveaways and many have proactively reached out to me with offers after they see and hear how exciting this part of our campaign is. I share giveaways a few at a time on our page, teachers must like the donor’s business Facebook page and comment on the post to enter. I then conduct LIVE drawings on Facebook that are guaranteed fun and full of positive energy!  

Who doesn’t like to laugh and win something in one fell swoop? The live drawings have really taken the campaign to the next level. It gives me a chance to surprise teachers with fun local giveaways and I plug the local businesses simultaneously. So many of our page members had no idea of various small businesses throughout our community, but thanks to our page they are now well aware and often times even become customers. It truly is a win-win!  

I’ve been contacted by many counties throughout Tennessee and states all across the country that have heard about the success of our campaign. As a matter of fact, we have 63 counties within the state of Tennessee and 21 states outside of Tennessee represented as members of our group. Their question is always the same—‘What makes your campaign so successful?’ and my answer is always the same.  

Many years ago I had a handful of teachers who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. They truly changed the trajectory of my life. This campaign is my opportunity to give back to our difference makers, our teachers! This campaign has shown me, and hopefully our local teachers, that so many wanted to say ‘thank you’ but just didn’t have a platform to do so; that’s what Bedford County Adopt-a-Teacher is all about. WE LOVE AND APPRECIATE OUR TEACHERS!  

A little data about our current campaign that relaunched on June 9. We currently have just under 2,000 members on our page and since launch on June 9, our page has been visited over 31,000 times in only 28 days! That’s more than I could’ve ever imagined. We’ve already had thousands and thousands of dollars in classroom supplies purchased and delivered to teachers all throughout the community. We’ve also given out a lot of really fantastic items from local businesses that wanted to express their appreciation to our teachers.  

I have so many other really fantastic things in the funnel for this campaign that are already guaranteed to happen, but it’s too soon for me to share the details just yet. I’ll save that for a future LIVE on our page.All the more reason for youto join our page and becomea member of somethingthat’s guaranteed to bringyou an immense amountof JOY! That is a promise! And maybe you’ll even feelinspired and want to gift ateacher?  

You’d be surprised howfar a box of crayons willgo; I challenge you to giveit a try. Feel free to message mevia Facebook if you haveany questions about ourcampaign.

Thank you so much!