HIALEAH GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - Office Depot is once again making sure students are prepared for back to school, this time in Miami-Dade County.
A drive-thru school supply distribution was held for Hialeah Gardens Elementary School students at the campus, located at 9702 NW 130th St., Wednesday morning.
The company donated 1,000 backpacks filled with school supplies for the students.
“There’s about $100 worth of merchandise in each backpack,” said Alex Price with Office Depot.
The company’s Start Proud program provided the generous gift to the students and brought much-needed relief to their parents.
“A lot of people are without work, and they’re struggling, so this is something really nice, and it helps boost the morale,” said parent Bianca Chow.
Teachers and staff of Hialeah Gardens Elementary School showed up to help at the drive-thru distribution event.
“When they start school this week, they’re thinking, learning, they’ve connected visually seeing their teachers in the drive-by distribution today, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, this is exciting,'” said Price.
They also took time to celebrate Office Depot’s All Star Teacher, Mercedes Levy.
“She’s the kind of teacher that you can go to for anything,” said Rachel Autler. “Students really feel comfortable with her, and she gets them on their emotional level and not just their academic level.”
Levy is moving from the third grade classroom to teach kindergarten.
In addition to the title, Office Depot also presented Levy with her own gift pack.
“As our All Star Teacher, Ms. Levy will get close to $2,000 worth of teacher equipment that we hope will make the remote experience as easy and as effective as I know you want it to be,” said Price.
“I didn’t expect this!” said Levy. “This is amazing. I’m so thankful and so amazed and so happy and appreciative of everything. Now I can continue motivating, teaching, inspiring and unleashing creativity. That’s what I bring to the kids.”
Miami-Dade County Public School students will begin their classes virtually on Aug. 31.
M-DCPS Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the county’s COVID-19 positivity rate and science will guide his decision on when to reopen school campuses.
“Now, we’re experiencing a relatively good trend, around 12% over 14 days with lower mortality and morbidity,” he said. “Those are all good signs, but look, we do not feel comfortable in bringing children and teachers back into the schoolhouse while the positivity rate is still above 10%.”
Through the end of September, Office Depot is raising additional funds for the school by asking customers for donations when they checkout.
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