SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Students and teachers alike are enjoying their summer vacation, but the new school year is just around the corner.
Scheels in Sioux Falls is a popular destination for back to school shoppers. But the company is looking to do some shopping of its own.
“Here we are doing a Shopping for Teachers. We’re going to fulfill teachers’ Amazon wish lists,” Scheels social media manager Jenna Schlapkohl said.
Scheels will select at least 10 teachers who post their Amazon wish list to the store’s Facebook page, and then buy the items.
“Teachers had books, they had calculators, they had fun little reading nooks, and so Cierra and I, when we shop, we just find the things that we think the kids would like the most actually and just buy that,” Schlapkohl said.
It’s their way of showing appreciation for area teachers.
“We have a lot of former teachers that work for us, or retired teachers work for us, and just talking with them we know the need of the community,” Schlapkohl said.
“They’re the profession that starts the next generation, so whatever they can do to get kids excited about learning and bring that into the classroom is just a benefit,” former science teacher and Scheels employee Nick Stroh said.
Stroh was a science teacher for the Brandon Valley School District. He spent 20 years in the classroom and says every educator has a need.
“One of the things that was always big in my classroom was clay and Play-Doh because we could form it and we could make things and we could do land forms and talk about extinct animals and that type of thing, and press molds into them, kids kind of liked that,” Stroh said.
And that’s why Scheels is Shopping for Teachers.
“For us to be able to help them help the kids, it’s an easy win for us,” Schlapkohl said.
The deadline for teachers to submit their Amazon wish list is this Sunday, via Facebook or Instagram.
