With technology on the fast track in today’s modern society, schools are having a tough time keeping up. But thanks to the efforts of one enterprising middle school science teacher, seventh-graders at Sutton Middle School are the thankful recipients of Samsung Chromebooks.

On this Thanksgiving Day, it’s worth celebrating the technology grant that a Sutton teacher won by convincing colleagues and parents to vote for her proposal, a proposal that she was only able to submit because some grateful parents made the effort to say thank you to her.

As one of 30 national winners in the Farmers Insurance Thank A Million Teachers Contest last month, Michelle Morgan, a Gifted Life Science teacher at Sutton Middle School, earned a $2,500 grant to purchase a set of Samsung Chromebooks for her students.

“I felt very blessed to be a winner,” Morgan said. “I worked very hard to get parents and the community to vote for my proposal.  I sent out daily reminders to vote and had everyone spread the word through their families, companies and communities.”

In order for Morgan to enter into the contest, she needed to be thanked on the Farmers website. “To my surprise, I had been thanked by many parents and students from Sutton,” Morgan said.

After discovering that she was eligible for contest, Morgan decided it was worth a shot.

The contest actually has five contest entry periods where up to 30 winners (six winners per region) win $2,500 grants. Individual teachers submit proposals during each contest entry period. After judges review the submitted proposals, 100 finalists are selected from each zone.

“With a school the size of Sutton, technology is always limited, so I decided to write a grant proposal for Chromebooks,” Morgan said.

The top six finalists in each region are declared winners. Morgan’s proposal was one of six winners for the September voting period.

After earning the prize from the Farmers contest, she purchased the Chromebooks through the website AdoptAClassroom.org. Morgan expressed gratitude for all the support she received in mobilizing parents and community members to get out the vote.

Her students may have been too young to vote themselves, but they helped recruit votes for their teacher’s effort.

“She didn’t have to prompt us much,” said Henry Winter, a student of Ms. Morgan’s and the son of Southerner adviser Dave Winter, of the voting process. “Most of the kids told their families, and the word got around to vote.”

Jerry Willard, a fellow science teacher who teaches in the classroom next to Morgan’s, said that the community’s support was essential to Morgan’s victory. He said that he voted to Morgan’s proposal twice per week in response to Morgan’s all-call for votes.

Willard wasn’t surprised at how well Morgan communicated with the Sutton community about the contest. He said that quality is precisely what makes her an excellent teacher.

“Ms. Morgan is an engaging teacher that has a well-rounded knowledge of biology that she conveys easily to her students,” Willard said. “Her most admirable quality is her knowledge of science and her ability to communicate this knowledge to her students.”

Winter agreed that Morgan is a excellent teacher and communicator.

“She’s really good at talking to us,” he said. “We understand her really well. She doesn’t have to repeat instructions because people were talking. She makes it easy to do well in her class, and she makes learning fun.”

The Chromebooks will no doubt will help Morgan continue to achieve these core objectives.

In addition to expressing thanks to the community for voting, Morgan also expressed her appreciation  to Farmers Insurance for sponsoring the program that has enriched her classroom.

“Without the continuing support of organizations and individuals like you, my students would not have access to the technology that they need to succeed,” Morgan wrote to the contest sponsors. “Through your gift, my students will know that there are many people in our surrounding community and throughout the nation that care about their learning. You have blessed us richly, and words will never be able to express our gratitude.”

It’s not too late to send a thank you note to a teacher who has made a difference in your life. Send your thank-you note via the following website: https://www.thankamillionteachers.com/thank-a-teacher/