Fiesta Bowl grants over $1M in classroom wishes for Arizona teachers

Madeleine Parrish, Arizona Republic
·2 min read
Former Phoenix Suns announcer Al McCoy calls teachers to let them know they've won $2,500 for their classroom wishes alongside Theresa Palmquist, a communications associate at Fiesta Bowl at the Fiesta Bowl Museum in Scottsdale on Nov. 2.
Former Phoenix Suns announcer Al McCoy calls teachers to let them know they've won $2,500 for their classroom wishes alongside Theresa Palmquist, a communications associate at Fiesta Bowl at the Fiesta Bowl Museum in Scottsdale on Nov. 2.

This week, 500 teachers across Arizona had wishes granted by Fiesta Bowl Charities during the group's eighth annual Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers Draft Day.

Fiesta Bowl Charities gave out $1.25 million to public district and charter school teachers from 73 cities and towns across the state this year.

The money was granted to teachers who asked for items like robotics kits, sensory toys, school garden supplies, art supplies, musical instruments, math manipulatives, language translating earbuds, coding equipment, books and STEM materials. About 4,000 teachers applied for the drawing, according to Scott Leightman, a spokesperson for Fiesta Bowl.

23 Maricopa County schol districts have questions going to voters. Here's what they want

The winning teachers received $2,500 each.

Erik Moses, the executive director and CEO of Fiesta Bowl, said the amount intends to help teachers "enhance the learning environment in their classes and hopefully avoid having to reach into their own pockets in order to do so."

"This is not going to fix everything that ails education systems, but it's going to help," Moses said.

Former Phoenix Suns announcer Al McCoy was one of the volunteers who called teachers during "draft day" at the Ziegler Fiesta Bowl Museum in Scottsdale to let them know they had won.

"I always loved my teachers and coaches so much, and I'm happy that I'm the one who gets to call you and give you the good news," McCoy told Lorena Groeneveld, a math teacher in Phoenix who wanted to purchase a classroom set of graphic calculators. "You made my whole day," she responded.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it," said Jaci Tanner, a K-8 special education teacher from Globe who wanted to purchase flexible seating options and sensory materials.

Abeth Spencer, a librarian from a Phoenix elementary school, told McCoy how excited she was about the number of books she could purchase with the funds.

Volunteers call Arizona teachers to let them know they were selected to win $2,500 from Fiesta Bowl Charities during the Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers "Draft Day" at the Fiesta Bowl Museum in Scottsdale on Nov. 2.
Volunteers call Arizona teachers to let them know they were selected to win $2,500 from Fiesta Bowl Charities during the Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers "Draft Day" at the Fiesta Bowl Museum in Scottsdale on Nov. 2.

The reactions from teachers were "amazing," said Andrea Moreno, community outreach manager for Salt River Project, an event sponsor.

"The first call that I made, the teacher was crying ... everyone's always just so surprised," Moreno said.

Madeleine Parrish covers K-12 education. Reach her at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @maddieparrish61.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fiesta Bowl Charities surprises Arizona teachers with $2,500 each