UPDATE Nov. 19: Angelyn Obray was just announced the Western Region winner for KI’s $50,000 Classroom Furniture Giveaway.

LAYTON—A Northridge High School special education teacher is in the running to receive $50,000 in classroom furniture from the Wisconsin furniture manufacturer, KI. Angelyn Obray is one of three finalists for the Western Region. The winner will be named by the public’s vote. Voting is open now until Nov. 16.

“I applied and how it works is you make your own classroom with the web system they have,” said Obray. “You design it how you want it, which is fun to just dream. So I turned it in and honestly didn’t think anything of it. I literally was like there’s no shot at all. Then I got a call that said I’m one of three finalists for the Western area.”

Obray's design is based on the students' needs. Courtesy rendering

 Obray said her design is all based on what her students need. “I teach a severe special education class. So I have students in wheelchairs. I have verbal and nonverbal students. Their academic age ranges from 0 to probably seventh grade. It’s very vast.”

Winning this would mean so much to the students, she said. “I’m very grateful for Northridge. I have an awesome classroom but furniture is kind of hard to find and it’s really pricey. Right now I just have the random stuff. I feel like having furniture would be so helpful.”

Her dream classroom, Obray said, would have an area where it’s just whatever type of seating they want to sit in. “It would be where we could do more instruction time, which we don’t do a lot of but it is nice to have that option. I designed the front half of the classroom to have different types of seating and places to work.”

It just fits the students’ needs better, she said. “Like tall furniture, couch-like furniture and things that you can move. At the back of the classroom I wanted to set it up to be very life skills oriented so we could move the tables wherever we needed them for either group work or just completely out of the way to teach job skills and things like cooking and cleaning.”

Obray said she teaches those basic things a lot of students who don’t have special needs just pick up. “Those are the things we work on because it takes a lot of practice. I wanted that space specifically for that. Right now I have a cute little store but I’d love it to be just like a store so my students could earn dollars and then practice spending their dollars.”

Obray is kind of new to teaching. “This is my third year at Northridge High School but previously I was a paraprofessional. So a teacher’s aide in a severe behavior classroom for about four years. I have all the respect in the world for my team and my para’s. What they do is just the most amazing thing – they run the show. So I’m grateful for them.”

When she was going to school, Obray said teaching was just kind of a stepping stone. “I wanted to go more into accommodations. After I’d been teaching I was like ‘I really love this.’ So this is my dream now.”

Obray said she chose special education for a lot of reasons. “One is my mom is blind so I grew up in a very diverse household and was taught that it doesn’t matter your ability you can literally do anything. My mom is amazing. She recently picked up rock climbing with us and she was the first one on my motorcycle when I bought it. She really taught me that the sky is the limit.”

Obray was a peer tutor in high school. “It was absolutely my favorite class and those students were just my best friends. To this day I literally still hang out with a few of them. It feels peaceful and at home when I’m with my students.”

Obray said it’s been her entire world her whole life. “It’s what I love and I understand my students. The easiest part of my job most days is my students. They’re the best. So I love them. They’re like my kids.”

To vote go to ki.com/giveaway through Nov. 16. Winners will be announced Nov. 19.