Students Say Thanks with Bleacher Seat for Educator

Meg Malloy has a seat with her name on it — a bleacher seat, that is.

As part of teacher appreciation week in Shorewood, each district class honors their teacher with a gift.

Malloy, a district teacher, was awarded with beaded necklaces, handmade cards from each student and a bleacher seat at Shorewood High School with her name on it. 

“This week gave us a way to think about our teacher in a different way,” student Maya Giordano said. “We did things on our own to thank her from us, but then giving her the bleacher seat was a group effort.”

The whiz kids had a little help from their parents, and also took advantage of a few programs, which assisted with the $600 cost of a seat. Parents Beth Tsuchiyama and Julie Bussen helped facilitate the gift.

To do the math, the class had already raised some funds at the beginning of the year for teacher gifts. Around $100 came from funds that parents contributed at the beginning of year for teacher appreciation, another $300 from additional funds collected specifically for this purpose from seven families and room parents after sending out a class e-mail to parents asking for a donation to reach their goal. In a program launched this year, Atwater PTO uses donor funds to contribute the final $100 towards a bleacher seat honoring a teacher.

“The kids all seemed excited to think that they could go to the high school someday and everyone could see how they honored their teacher,” Bussen said.

The Shorewood Foundation matches every dollar raised (up to $25,000) for the bleachers.