MILWAUKEE, WI - A teacher—considered a hero in her school—received an incredible surprise in honor of the work she does outside the classroom to enhance learning.
"They just told me to show up," Brittany Light said. "I didn't know we were going to be honored in such a way."
Light said she’s worked at Next Door, an early childhood education agency, for five years and she's now a positive behavior intervention specialist. According to Light, she's spent the bulk of her time soliciting support from DonorsChoose.org to fund projects related to enhancing early learning services for her preschool students. But now with a sizable donation from PNC she'll worry less about how to fund future projects.
“To have an agency believe in you so much, to do something so grand for you it gives you chills," Light said. "It means that they really believe in what you’re doing."
On Monday morning, PNC Regional President, Chris Goller, read to Next Door students then presented Light with a $2,000 gift card for her classroom, but the gift-giving didn't end there.
Goller also awarded Light's colleagues with a $2,000 gift card while giving 39 $100 gift cards to other teachers at the school as well as five iPads to enhance learning in the classroom.
"It's the great work that they're doing," Goller said. "For us, April is a great month where we're committed to early childhood education and this was a great opportunity."
Last year, nearly 244,000 preschool children benefited in 22 states (and Washington, D.C.) from PNC's philanthropic efforts, and over 12,000 of those students were in Wisconsin.
