Sidney Teacher Awarded Grant for Computers

OKLAHOMA CITY - To honor the creative efforts teachers have made to maneuver their ever-shifting learning environments and keep students engaged this past year, SONIC®Drive-In donated $1.5 million to teacher requests on national education nonprofit site DonorsChoose on Teacher Appreciation Day, May 4.

As part of SONIC’s ongoing Limeades for Learninginitiative, the $1.5 million donation helped fund more than 7,000 teacher requests across the country in need of critical resources, including a special teacher in Sidney, Neb., who received a combined donation of $2,725.00.

On Teacher Appreciation Day, the brand matched 50 percent of each donation made to all teacher requests on DonorsChoose.

The following exceptional teacher received funding: 

• Lacy Russell at Sidney High School for the project “Big Time Opportunities in a Small Town”

The project offers students the opportunity to “experience premier software platforms on a thinkpad for a career in architecture, drafting, construction or design,” according to http://www.donorschoose.org.

Her goal was to reach $3,930 to purchase laptops capable of supporting software necessary for the class.

“It is my hope to bring CADD (computer-aided drafting and design) software to my students to expand their knowledge of the skilled technical sciences career field,” she said on the http://www.donorschoose.org website.

Sidney High School provides Chromebooks to its students, but Chromebooks do not support the software needed for CADD classes, according to Russell.

“Teachers took this past year head-on, engineering a variety of innovative methods to keep their students learning in both in-person and virtual classrooms,” said Lori Abou Habib, chief marketing officer for SONIC. “We express our gratitude to these teachers, who create inspirational learning environments for students during a challenging time. With SONIC’s $1.5 million donation match, we were able to help teachers access much-need supplies to successfully complete this school year.”

Russell was awarded a grant in 2020 to purchase five laptops for her students; then two more with this grant. She has applied for another grant which would purchase enough computers for each student.

SONIC is committed to helping teachers now in this time of need, and all year long.

Through Limeades for Learning, SONIC has donated more than $19 million to public school teachers, helping more than 36,000 teachers and impacting nearly 7.4 million students in public schools nationwide since 2009. Visit LimeadesforLearning.com to learn about future funding opportunities and explore public school teacher requests in the Sidney community in need of support.

About DonorsChoose

DonorsChoose is the leading way to give to public schools. Since 2000, 4.7 million people and partners have contributed $1 billion to support nearly 2 million teacher requests for classroom resources and experiences. As the most trusted crowdfunding platform for teachers, donors, and district administrators alike, DonorsChoose vets each request, ships the funded resources directly to the classroom, and provides thank yous and reporting to donors and school leaders.

Charity Navigator and GuideStar have awarded DonorsChoose, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, their highest ratings for transparency and accountability. For more information, visit www.donorschoose.org.