In August 2023, a pipe burst and caused extensive water damage inside Sylvestre Herrera School for the Performing Arts and Dual Language. The school was closed for seven months, with students and teachers returning in March. As part of Teacher Appreciation Week, the Fiesta Bowl Charities surprised the teachers from Herrera Elementary with a $5,000 check to help rebuild classrooms, and in partnership with the Phoenix Community Alliance hosted a “Take a Teacher to Lunch” event on May 8.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“Our teachers were flooded out of their school at the very beginning of the year,” said Dr. Deborah Gonzalez, the Superintendent for the Phoenix #1 Elementary School District. “Our communications person is a member of the Phoenix Community Alliance and she was talking about what had happened with our teachers. The Phoenix Community Alliance said we want to do something to help.”
The Phoenix Community Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1983 to improve downtown Phoenix. Their stated goal is to “activate, advocate, and build Greater Downtown Phoenix through the united vision and commitment of our Members”. They got together with Million Dollar Teacher Project to organize something special for the teachers when they returned. They went to local businesses to contribute to the event, then reached out to Fiesta Bowl Charities. When the Fiesta Bowl Charities learned of what happened to Herrera Elementary, they knew the teachers needed additional supplies and resources.
“The Fiesta Bowl, they know us for a football game, but we are more than a game, we are always giving back to the community,” said Fiesta Bowl Director of Community Relations Sandra Avila. “With education being one of our pillars, we do a lot of initiatives and events with teachers. Teacher Appreciation Week is one way we celebrate and thank teachers for all we do.”
The Fiesta Bowl Charities is another nonprofit organization and has just started its grant cycle for the 2024-25 year. In the previous cycle, they impacted over a million Arizonans, including 478,000 from youth, 76,600 benefitting from sports programming, and 350,800 from education programming. They also have a huge program for teachers called the Wishes for Teachers program, where they give $1.25 million in the form of $2,500 grants back to 500 teachers.
The local businesses that contributed to the event included Pedal Haus Brewery (catering), Intersection Development (beverages), and Urban Cookies Bakeshop (dessert).
“They put together a lunch, they put together gift packages for all the teachers,” said Gonzalez. “So every teacher leaves today with a nice gift package from local businesses, but they also have great gifts that they’re auctioning off for the students today. It was a surprise, the teachers didn’t know. When they came in, they thought somebody brought them and that’s all they knew.”
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
