Shown from the left are Roosevelt Elementary School Instructional Coach Kelly Wright and Belleville Walmart Store Manager Rachel Ford.
Educators will now be “lounging in style”
Crayola, Walmart and Schoolgirl Style recently teamed up to make life a bit more comfortable for teachers at 12 schools across the country through a new “Teachers’ Lounge Makeover” initiative. Through this collaboration, Roosevelt Elementary School in Belleville was selected as one of the winning schools to receive a complete makeover for their teachers’ lounge, including $4,000 in Walmart gift cards to put toward the transformation.
Each teachers’ lounge makeover blends a sense of style, comfort and functionality to create an inspiring space that celebrates the exceptional influence teachers have on students. It’s a way to show hardworking school staff and teachers how much they’re valued and appreciated.
Roosevelt Elementary School unveiled their updated teachers’ lounge on May 28, which now features a seating area with brand new tables and chairs, refreshed countertops, an updated coffee/snack area, new paint and decorations, storage, wall lighting and more.
This is a photo from the teachers’ lounge makeover reveal at Roosevelt Elementary School on May 28.
“All of the teachers here are so excited and grateful to Crayola and Walmart for generously transforming our lounge into a vibrant and welcoming space to collaborate and recharge,” said Kelly Wright, elementary instructional coach for Belleville Public School District #118 and nominator for the Teachers’ Lounge Makeover. “It’s such a great thing they’re doing.”
Roosevelt Elementary was one of 12 schools selected from around the country to receive a complete makeover for their teachers’ lounge as part of Crayola Creativity Week’s Creative Teachers Sweepstakes.
Crayola Creativity Week is a free program that brings more than six million children together globally across six continents and 100 countries. Throughout the week, educators have access to fun, engaging and creative activities to do with their students, including hands-on, educational activity videos led by celebrities, downloadable handouts, daily prizes, a livestream virtual assembly to connect with other creative classrooms and more. All content is aligned to education standards and was translated into eight languages.
To keep the creative fun going beyond Creativity Week, Crayola provided the school with $1,000 worth of Crayola art supplies.
The founder of Schoolgirl Style, Melanie Ralbusky, is a former classroom teacher who knows the importance of teachers having a place where they can connect and restore their creative mindsets. She created a series of design boards for the winning schools to choose from to bring the lounge to life in their building.
Representatives from Roosevelt Elementary School chose a theme of a warm, inviting space with a relaxed color design, and Crayola provided the school with a $3,000 Walmart.com virtual gift card to purchase the necessary items for the makeover. Walmart community relations also provided a $1,000 gift card for the teachers to purchase additional items for their lounge.
To bring the design to life, volunteers from Belleville Walmart Supercenter helped with tasks such as setting up the new furniture, organizing the snack bar and decorating the teachers’ lounge.
The Roosevelt Elementary School Creative Teachers’ Lounge Makeover highlights the commitment of Crayola, Walmart and Schoolgirl Style to recognize the invaluable impact teachers have on their students and communities daily.
“Crayola Creativity Week supports Crayola’s mission to help parents and educators raise creatively alive children and reflects our deep commitment to nurturing children’s creativity to help them reach their full potential. Creativity is a life skill that improves student outcomes in the classroom and beyond,” said Victoria Lozano, executive vice president, Marketing at Crayola. “Educators share our commitment to creativity as kids’ biggest creative champions, giving everything they have to their students. We are thrilled to help support them and help encourage more creativity in schools by giving educators an inspiring space just for them, to recharge, collaborate and restore their own creative energy.”
“We’re pleased to have worked with Crayola and Schoolgirl Style to create a fun, functional and more tranquil teachers’ lounge at Roosevelt Elementary School that suits their educators’ needs, whether they’re winding up or winding down from their important daily work,” said Rachel Ford, Belleville Walmart Supercenter store manager. “Teachers inspire and have such a profound impact on students’ lives and deserve a refreshing, comfortable space to relax, collaborate and promote staff connections.”
Photos provided by Walmart.
About Crayola Education
Crayola LLC, based inEaston, Pa.and a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards, Incorporated, is the worldwide leader in children’s creative expression products. Known for the iconic Crayola Crayon first introduced in 1903, the Crayola brand has grown into a portfolio of innovative art tools, crafting activities and creativity toys that offer children innovative new ways to use color to create everything imaginable. Crayola Education provides free creative learning resources to K-8 educators to prepare students with academic and life skills that hinge on creativity. For more information, visitwww.crayola.com/educationor join the community atwww.facebook.com/crayolaeducation.
About Walmart in Illinois
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores, online and through their mobile devices. In Illinois we serve customers at 177 retail units and online through Walmart Online Grocery and Walmart.com. We are proud to employ 58,282 associates in Illinois. Walmart supports local businesses, spending $68.1 billion with Illinois suppliers in fiscal year 2024 and supporting 381,521 supplier jobs. Walmart continues to be a leader in employment opportunity, sustainability, and corporate philanthropy. In fiscal year 2024, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation contributed more than $44 million in cash and in-kind donations to local nonprofits in Illinois. Learn more at corporate.walmart.com.
