BOARDMAN, Ohio – Teachers at Boardman Glenwood Junior High School will have a little more money this academic year to spend on their classrooms thanks to a $15,000 donation from Boardman Subaru that was announced Wednesday.
“We try to be a good neighbor to our community, and education is a very big thing with us,” said Rob Fellman, owner of Boardman Subaru.
The donation also includes school supply kits through the Subaru Loves Learning program, in partnership with AdoptAClassroom.org.
Fellman was joined by other representatives of the dealership and educators at Boardman Glenwood during a press event at the school. The money, he said, would be distributed to all of the teachers at the junior high school and earmarked for additional materials for the classrooms and students. The funding supports the purchase of supplies such as notebooks, calculators, creative learning tools and other items.
“The school decided to spread it out amongst all the classrooms so the teachers can get involved with their own ideas and purchase things that they feel that they need to help the students out,” Fellman said. “We hope that this goes a long way.”
Holly Gozur, an eighth grade math teacher, said the extra money will help out many students that lack supplies to kickstart the school year. “We have a lot of students who can’t always have the supplies they need to start the school year to be successful, so all these supplies and money benefit the kids.”
Gozur said she plans to use the money to buy supplies such as graph paper, loose leaf paper binders and other classroom items.
The donation will be spread out through 25 classrooms, impacting more than 525 students.
“What I think is most important is that the administration allows each teacher to get a piece of the pie and use it in our own classroom as we see fit,” said Tom Basista, a seventh grade world history teacher.
Basista said he is involved in the school’s chess club and will use the money to purchase chess sets and make them available in class for those who have finished their work or might be in study hall. “Other things like construction paper and 3D boards we use – things that kids may not have access to,” he said.
Moreover, the cost of these supplies have risen over the past several years, making donations such as this even more vital to local education, Basista said. “It gives us the opportunity to be more flexible with projects and be a little more creative with stuff,” he said. “It’s super positive.”
Fellman said his dealership has been a part of the Subaru Loves Learning program for 10 years. The program, he emphasized, is part of the larger Subaru Love Promise, in which the dealership is engaged in a host of various community projects and causes.
“We’re a big part of our community,” Fellman said. “And we credit them for all of our success.”
Pictured at top: From left are Rob Fellman, owner of Boardman Subaru; Luke Gidorkis, eighth grade English teacher; Cheryl Metzel, eighth grade science teacher; Laura McCreery, principal of Boardman Glenwood Junior High.