Posted November 2021
Three Kyrene teachers had wishes granted. This month, Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl Charities delivered $1,000,000.00 in grant money to 400 Arizona teachers including three from Kyrene. Through a three-day Virtual Draft Day presented by the Salt River Project (SRP), the teachers from K-12 schools were each given $2,500 to grant a wish in their classrooms.
The Kyrene educators recognized are:
Michelle Ang
School: Kyrene Traditional Academy | Subject: 1st Grade | Location: Chandler
Michelle’s wish is to provide books in their classroom to assist students at all reading levels.
Jessica Van Oostrom
School: Kyrene de la Esperanza | Subject: Music | Location: Phoenix
Jessica’s wish is to provide a set of ukuleles for the music class.
Susan Wright
School: Kyrene de la Esperanza Elementary School | Subject: Speech/Language
| Location: Phoenix
Susan’s wish is to purchase board games and science experiments to support social development.
Each fall, Arizona K-12 public or charter school teachers are invited to fill out an online application detailing a school or classroom need. The wishes are verified and selected through a random drawing.
The 400 teachers selected this year represent 300 schools in 63 cities across the state, teaching more than 200,000 students in 84 districts over 75 subjects, from social studies to special education, literature to leadership, music to math. All the Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl Charities wish recipients will be honored next month during halftime at the Guaranteed Rate Bowl game which will be held in downtown Phoenix at Chase Field.
Over the six years of the program, Fiesta Bowl Wishes for Teachers granted $4.7 million to more than 1,200 Arizona teachers, impacting more than 500,000 children across the state. For more information, or for a full list of granted wishes, visit www.fiestabowl.org.
