STCU Helps Four Lucky Teachers

Dan Hansen
509/344-2208
danh@stcu.org

Classroom grants can help fund what school districts can’t
 
Most U.S. teachers spend money from their own pockets to equip public-school classrooms, according to the National School Supply and Equipment Association.
 
STCU can’t help them all. But as a not-for-profit organization founded by educators, we’re honoring our roots by awarding four $500 classroom grants this fall to local certified teachers whose names were selected at random from more than 2,000 entries. The money can be spent on anything the teacher believes will enhance students’ classroom experience, whether a basic need or something special.
 
Each of the winners was notified during surprise announcements at their schools in recent days. They are:

• Marcii Barkley, a second-grade teacher at John Brown Elementary School in Rathdrum, Idaho (part of the Lakeland Joint School District).
• Amanda Mortensen, who teaches seventh- and eighth-grade math at Evergreen Middle School in the Central Valley School District.
• Julie Dodge, a special-education teacher at East Valley High School.
• Brian Hutchinson, a science teacher at St. George’s School in Spokane.

Continuing a long tradition, STCU provided meals, refreshments and door prizes at 23 back-to-school events for educators in Eastern Washington and North Idaho this year. More than 2,000 certified teachers who attended those events entered our drawings for classroom grants. It is the second consecutive year that STCU has offered the grant drawings.
 
Spokane Teachers Credit Union
Founded by educators in 1934, STCU is a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative with more than $1.6 billion in total assets and 109,000 members. Our 16th branch is scheduled to open in November, on Spokane’s Moran Prairie.

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