Teacher at St. Cyprian’s in Lufkin Wins $1,000 Classroom Grant

I love being a part of good surprises.

It's the end of another semester and that means it's time to walk into the classroom of an East Texas teacher to spread some great news.  For the past 5 years or so we have teamed up with our friends at Whataburger for our Teacher of the Day promotion.

We ask our KICKS 105 listeners to go to our website or KICKS 105 App and nominate a teacher to be recognized on our radio station and through our online portals.  At the end of every semester, we choose one of those teachers to win a $1,000 classroom grant.

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Once a teacher is chosen, that's when the fun, sneaky part begins.  We start by contacting the principal or someone in that capacity at the teacher's school to let them know the good news. Then we ask them to help arrange a time when representatives from KICKS 105 and Whataburger (including What-a-guy) can go to that teacher's classroom and surprise him or her with the great news.

This semester's winner is Kim Flores, third grade teacher at St. Cyprian's Episcopal School in Lufkin.  The nominator of this teacher wrote, "She is an amazing teacher! She goes above and beyond! She loves her students as if they were her own!!"

In addition to those wonderful words about Mrs. Flores, you may have recently heard about how she and her third grade class wrote and published a book about Legacy Lion, the school's mascot -- a grand accomplishment, indeed!

Here's how the surprise visit went down on Thursday afternoon:

Congratulations, Mrs. Flores!

We will be awarding another area teacher with a $1,000 classroom grant at the end of the Spring semester.  If you have nominated a teacher in the Fall, they will go into the drawing for that prize as well.  If you'd like to nominate a teacher, just click here. By the way, an upcoming post will highlight all the teachers who got nominated.

KICKS 105 and Whataburger have awarded 10 area teachers with $1,000 classroom grants so far.  Here's a look at them all: