The Fayette County Education Foundation wants to help teachers new to the school system with any last minute supplies or materials for their classrooms, so each received a $25 gift card to offset the cost.

On the last day of New Teacher Induction, members of the Foundation gave $25 Amazon gift cards to approximately 175 teachers. The teachers can use the cards to help finish out their classrooms with any supplies or items they need. 

As they use their Amazon gift cards, they were encouraged to make their purchases through smile.amazon.com. It is the same Amazon site, but here customers can have a portion of their purchase donated to the charity of their choice, in this case, the Fayette County Education Foundation. The service is free and does not add to the cost of purchases.

This marks the second year the Fayette County Education Foundation has given gift cards to new teachers to help offset the purchase of classroom materials. To date, the Foundation has given nearly $9,000 to teachers new to the school system. 

The teachers were invited to receive more money by applying for a Fayette County Education Foundation grant to fund a classroom project or program that focuses on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) subjects. Grants are for $500, and are competitive. The Foundation awarded over $16,000 to teachers in 2017-2016. 

Enclosed with the gift card was an opportunity to participate in the 13th annual employee giving campaign where employees can make a monthly donation to the Foundation through payroll deduction. A total of 27 teachers immediately signed up to became members of the “Buck a Month” club by agreeing to have $1 deducted from their monthly paychecks, and several teachers opted to have $5 deducted each month to benefit the Foundation. Another teacher opted to give a flat $200 donation.