It was like a scene out of a Publisher’s Clearing House commercial.
Administration from Oxford High School and two representatives from the Sam’s Club of Auburn Hills walked quickly down the hall toward Debra Brown’s classroom with a cake, bouquet of pink roses and a giant check in hand.
No, Ed McMahon wasn’t surprising her with a million dollar check ? Sam’s Club was presenting her with a $1,000 check for being named their local Teacher of the Year winner.
The award, which was given as part of Wal-Mart’s 12th annual Teacher of the Year program, comes in honor of National Teacher’s Day on May 8.
Teachers were nominated by members of the community during February and selected by a committee of store associates. More than 4,000 teachers are being honored nationwide.
What made Brown an obvious choice, according to Sam’s Club representative Wendy Larkin, was that she had numerous nominations from students.
Some of the nomination slips had comments like ‘she teaches us good life lessons,? ‘she is kind, understanding and respectful to her students,? and ‘she is a great teacher, motivator and director.?
Brown, a language arts and theater teacher at OHS, was moved to tears as she was presented with the check and heard the kind words her students wrote.
The $1,000 Brown received will be used for her classes. She also received a $100 gift card to buy classroom supplies, a Teacher of the Year polo shirt and a personalized certificate.
Brown will now be entered into the national competition for the chance to win an additional $25,000 education grant.