Shady Lane Teacher's Dedication Leads to Pleasant Surprise

Katie Kohel makes others’ days better.

On Tuesday, OfficeMax returned that favor.

Unexpected and unannounced – at least to Kohel - Representatives from the store surprised the Shady Lane fourth-grade teacher with $1,000 of classroom supplies, including a new chair and an Amazon Kindle Fire. A surprised Kohel was told not to participate in crazy hair day because photos 
were to be taken of her class.

She had no idea what was really happening. Principal Brad Hoffman nominated Kohel. She is among 1,000 teachers across the country to receive the honor.

“Not only does Mrs. Kohel care deeply about her students and make sure they learn every day, she is also a leader in our school,” said Hoffman. “She is always an early implementer when there is new district trainings or curricula.”

Kohel is a mentor, a member of Shady Lane’s leadership team and is the coach for the school’s Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS).

“Mrs. Kohel has worked hard to create an environment where students, parents and staff know what the expectations are, not only academically, but behaviorally as well,” Hoffman said. “The expectations are clear, and expected behaviors are taught, recognized and reinforced.”

Typical of Kohel’s character, she instantly said she would share the huge box of supplies with the rest of the school. OfficeMax and AdoptAClassroom.org joined together to create A Day Made Better to help ease the financial burden for teachers. Selected teachers were nominated by their principals for demonstrating passion, dedication and innovation in the classroom. 

Since 2007, A Day Made Better and other OfficeMax Goodworks programs have contributed more than $25 million in grants and supplies to support more than 31,000 teachers and their classrooms. Additionally, through the annual event OfficeMax has helped its nonprofit partner AdoptAClassroom.org secure funding for more than 100,000 
classrooms nationwide.