SPRINGDALE, Ark. — On Friday, (Aug. 14) thousands of dollars in prizes were awarded to Springdale School District teachers as part of the annual Chamber of Commerce Teacher Appreciation Breakfast.
It’s the 55th annual Back-to-Back School bash, making it one of the longest-running events of its kind.
Teachers were celebrated at Springdale Schools with gifts and drawings, with items such as gift cards, braces and a furniture giveaway.
Over $110,000 worth of prizes were given out.
To receive the grand prize, one had to be nominated by their colleagues.
In a normal year, all of the teachers would have met at one school and been together.
Steffi Teo, a teacher at Hellstern Middle School, was one of the lucky winners.
Just last year, she and her husband took in four foster children and became parents overnight.
Teo says receiving this gift left her speechless and took the stress off of saving for new and needed furniture.
“We were just talking this summer about how it'd be nice to replace our living room furniture," Teo said. "We had bought a bed frame when we first bought our house and it's kind of falling apart and we were waiting on it to really fall apart to buy the furniture."
Teo explained that she is still having a hard time grasping the fact she was chosen.