On Tuesday, September 25th, Veronica Mars star Kristen Bell highlighted the story of Rio Grande City CISD educator Lee Contreras as part of a recent viral teacher assistance campaign.
The effort, labeled #10featuredteachers, consist of celebrities featuring the stories of 10 teachers on their social media accounts for one day each, and directing their followers to Amazon school supplies shopping wish lists created by the teachers.
"My name is Lee Contreras and I am a AP Human Geography teacher and a world history teacher at La Grulla High School in Rio Grande City, Texas. My school has limited funding for teachers and I find myself having to buy my own supplies, Technology, and many other things, but for my students, I am willing to go the extra mile for them," declared Contreras as part of his petition. "We are located on the US-Mexican border and we are an area with very high poverty rates. It’s actually one of the poorest counties in the entire nation so it can be a struggle. With that being said, I would be ever so grateful as resources are completely limited and I am doing my very best to ensure that these students succeed in their AP exams and succeed after high school. I want to help my kids as much as I possibly can! Thank you so much!”
Throughout the day, Contreras received offers of free school supplies from generous Bell fans and according to social media comments, by the end of the day most of the items on his shopping wish list were purchased for his students.
According to media reports, musician Ed Droste, of the indie rock band Grizzly Bear, originally launched a 10-day school supplies giveaway campaign via Instagram last month.
