December 28, 2015
On December 17 and 18, Otter Elves came together to help surprise three very lucky schools with tablets, made possible through our Not-So-Ordinary Ornament campaign. The campaign raises funds to support innovative education by offering limited edition Christmas ornaments to Otter Products and Blue Ocean Enterprises employees. Funds raised from these ornaments are used to purchase tablets that are then surprise-gifted to a school in need, helping to equip and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and philanthropists.
Otters love surprises and we tend to be a little sneaky when it comes to surprising others. At Centennial Elementary in Firestone, Colo., OtterCares Executive Director Gary Rogers set up a meeting with principal Shirley Jirik, to learn more about the school and how the OtterCares Foundation could help. Little did she know, waiting out in the parking lot were a group of Otter Elves ready to give her a huge surprise! Shirley was shocked when the group interrupted the meeting and presented her with 25 tablets in OtterBox cases for her students to use. St. Vrain Valley School District Assistant Superintendent, Jackie Kapushion expressed her gratitude to all Otters saying, “Your organization’s support of our students is impressive. When the community and businesses come together to support public education, it’s a beautiful thing from our perspective, and our students win! In fact, we know we cannot do our work without the support.”
Keeping the momentum going, Gary and our employee engagement specialist, Tricia Vincent, were the sneaky secret keepers for our next surprise. Meeting with Brian Carpenter, principal at Bauder Elementary in Fort Collins, Colo., Gary and Tricia talked to the principal about his students and his school. Waiting out in the parking lot were another group of Otter Elves ready to make their appearance, gifts in hand! The Otter Elves presented Brian with the OtterBox-covered tablets. Brian was nothing but extremely grateful for the gratitude Otter Products and Blue Ocean Enterprises displayed in making the 25 tablets possible. “These will be used for our kindergarten and first grade students,” Brian explained. “Giving these students these tools for reading, math and writing will help them be better prepared as they enter upper grades.”
Our last stop was in San Diego where Tricia met with principal, Luis Ortiz, and Media Specialist, Alison Thompson at Pomerado Elementary in San Diego, Calif. Instead of showing up for a meeting, Tricia arrived with a group of Otter Elves holding 40 tablets! Both Luis and Alison were surprised to see a romp of Otters come in bearing gifts to help meet their school’s growing needs. Luis explained that as a Title 1 school, Pomerado relies on the generosity and support from the community in order to help achieve many of their academic and extra-curricular student goals. The gifting of the tablets to Pomerado was one way Otter Products was able to help!
Giving the gift of education to these schools was only possible because of the generosity and enthusiasm of Otter Products employees! Working together to help raise funds to make these gifts possible, Otters are doing their part to help create lasting change in our communities.
Read more about this year’s Not-So-Ordinary Ornament and check back later this year for more stories about how these schools are using these tablets to advance innovative education in their classrooms!