Special to the Herald
Four deserving Central Florida teachers will be able to hit the ground running when the new school year starts in a couple of weeks, receiving free “dream makeovers” for their respective classrooms.
Through their sixth annual Renovate to Educate Contest, Addition Financial Credit Union selected one public school teacher from Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties to receive a free classroom makeover, providing renovations of roughly $3,500 per classroom. Teachers from those counties applied for renovations by submitting an essay about their visions for a dream classroom.
The classroom reveals took place from July 29 through August 1, where teachers had the opportunity to see their brand-new classrooms come to life with school district officials and Addition Financial representatives on hand.
This year’s Seminole County winner, Brianna Balch, teaches at Altamonte Elementary School, specifically to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Pre-K to 2nd grade. In her winning essay she wrote that a classroom makeover would amplify the commitment to these students, “creating an environment that not only caters to their unique educational requirements but also fosters a sense of pride and ownership.”
To bring the teachers’ visions to life, Addition Financial teamed up with Seminole State College’s Interior Design program, hiring paid interns to collaborate with each individual teacher while gaining hands-on, real-world experience. Then more than 20 volunteers from Addition Financial did the painting and furniture building, completing the classroom renovations in four separate three-day windows during the summer, leading up to the big reveals.
