Bonny Doon Elementary School kindergarten teacher Judy Kele was surprised with a box full of electronics and school supplies this morning during an assembly at the school.
“We told her it was an evacuation drill,” first year principal Stephanie Siddens said. “She came in with her emergency backpack on and she apologized for being late and that she forgot the evacuation drill.”
Kele was surprised with about $1,200 worth of supplies including a new printer and a digital camera. She was the only teacher in the county to receive the surprise visit from OfficeMax as part of a nationwide event called “A Day Made Better.” OfficeMax teams with Adopt-A-Classroom to put on the event.
Siddens who nominated Kele during the summer, kept the award a secret until today, even though she knew Kele had won months ago.
Siddens praised Kele’s work at the school even after teaching in Bonny Doon for the past 21 years.
“(During the summer) her car was here every day early on,” Siddens said. “I talked with my administrative assistant and some parents. All of them told me about how wonderful a teacher and how wonderful a person she is. She’s still the first car here and the last one to leave, even after me sometimes. She’s just an amazing woman and an amazing teacher.”
