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Davis Journal

Elementary teachers surprised with $10,000 donation

Dec 01, 2022 11:22AM ● By Becky Ginos

Holbrook Elementary teachers stand with Performance Automotive General Manager Bill Barnes as he presents them with a check for $10,000. Photo by Roger V. Tuttle

BOUNTIFUL—Teachers at Holbrook Elementary were surprised last Friday when Performance Automotive Bountiful presented the school with a $10,000 check to use in their classrooms. Holbrook was selected as part of a nomination initiative at the dealership. Customers and employees dropped their nomination slips for the school they thought the donation should benefit in boxes set up at Performance Automotive and Holbrook received the most votes. 

“My sister is a teacher,” said Performance Automotive General Manager, Bill Barnes. “My sister is passionate about teaching but she has to take some out of her own pocket because they don’t always have the money they need.”

According to the district, on average teachers spend more than $500 of their personal funds to purchase supplies and other resources for their classrooms every year. 

“It’s a worthy cause,” said Barnes. “We want to give back to the school and give back to the community.” 

This is huge, said Elementary Director Traci Robbins. “This is not a big faculty. Every single teacher is engaged in Letters and wants to build the program into their classrooms. This money will help with equipment and will be distributed to each classroom for supplies to support Letters. We’ll divide it up and put it in their bucket to support the needs of that level.”

They have worked so hard, she said. “They’ve gone through one and a half years of training in Letters. This is the icing on the cake, it’s their prize at the end.”

“This is wonderful,” said Holbrook fourth grade teacher Jan Davis. “It’s a blessing for the school. I was so surprised. I had no idea, it was very exciting. We’ll be able to buy supplies to put to use for some of the training we’ve had to help the kids learn to read and do math as best as we can.”

Performance Automotive also donated $10,000 to the Davis Education Foundation. “Here in Davis County there are 1,200 kids in need,” said Barnes. “Some are homeless or couch surfing. This is a worthy cause for the resource centers to provide furniture, washing machines, etc. This is near and dear to my heart. If we don’t take care of the kids, who will take care of us?”

“We cannot thank the people at Performance Automotive enough for their decision to invest $20,000 in Davis School District’s students and educators,” said Davis Education Foundation Executive Director Jodi Lunt. “Community partnerships like theirs allow us to help more students in need and take education to greater heights.”