'A Day Made Better'
Riverside Elementary School second-grade teacher Suzanne Gramer smiled Tuesday morning as she watched her students look through the large box of about $1,500 in school supplies and electronics she received from OfficeMax in Baxter.
Gramer was one of 1,000 teachers nationwide honored in the annual "A Day Made Better" celebration sponsored by Adopt-A-Classroom and OfficeMax. The award is intended to shed light on the fact that teachers spend an average of $1,200 per teacher each year for classroom supplies due to cuts in education funding.
Riverside Elementary School second-grade teacher Suzanne Gramer smiled Tuesday morning as she watched her students look through the large box of about $1,500 in school supplies and electronics she received from OfficeMax in Baxter. Gramer was one of 1,000 teachers nationwide honored in the annual "A Day Made Better" celebration sponsored by Adopt-A-Classroom and OfficeMax. Brainerd Dispatch/Jodie Tweed» Purchase reprints of this photo.
Riverside students and staff were told by principal Cathy Engler they were attending an assembly on bullying. Instead, Gramer was stunned to discover that she was being honored by Baxter OfficeMax manager Loran Schroeder and several staff members. Gramer's husband, Ron, who has been harvesting sugar beets in the Red River Valley for the past week, also was there to surprise her with flowers.
Gramer has been a teacher for 27 years, 22 of those years in the district. She taught at Lincoln School before moving to Riverside 13 years ago. She and her husband have three daughters, Ronia, 19; Della, 17; and Gretchen, 13. Della was named Brainerd High School's homecoming queen last week. Gramer said receiving the classroom supplies made it feel like Christmas for her and her students.