Arizona Teachers Receive $1.25m Through Wishes for Teachers Draft Day

Extending the impact of Arizona’s most robust teacher support program, Scottsdale-based Fiesta Bowl Charities granted the classroom wish of 500 teachers for $2,500 each during the Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers Draft Day presented by SRP.

For the second straight year, the Wishes for Teachers program drew record interest, topping 4,000 applications from Arizona teachers, coaches and school staff, including from 14 new cities this year. The $1.25 million in donations will be distributed to 84 cities and towns across Arizona, impacting 237,737 students. The program granted wishes in 380 different schools, covering 108 school districts and 79 charter schools.

A full list of Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers recipients can be found here.

Recipients include teachers instructing bilingual classrooms, sustainability classes, physical education, special needs and much more. The 500 wishes range from new seating and books to robotics kits and virtual reality headsets.

“Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers was born to honor, support and celebrate Arizona’s educators. Teachers are unsung heroes and selfless mentors with incredible influence on our youth to help shape them to become the next generation of leaders,” said Fiesta Bowl Executive Director & CEO Erik Moses. “Providing resources that they would not otherwise have gives them the ability to create new areas of teaching that will unlock students’ potential.”

For the ninth consecutive year, a survey from the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association confirmed a continued teacher shortage in Arizona. The data indicates approximately 25% of teacher vacancies across the state this year remain unfilled.

With the support of Palo Verde, Fiesta Bowl Charities has donated $8.25 million to Arizona classrooms over the nine years of the Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers program, benefitting over 2,600 teachers and more than one million students.

“We are humbled to be a part of this extraordinary effort that has a huge impact on Arizona’s students and teachers,” said Kory Raftery, manager of Palo Verde external affairs. "This program is a perfect match for Palo Verde's values and is a great representation of our people."

Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers was created in 2016 because Fiesta Bowl Charities identified a need. Teachers often spend their own money on classroom materials and activities. In a study by Education Forward Arizona, Arizona is ranked 50th in teacher pay.

“Wishes for Teachers is one of the many ways SRP supports education,” said Anita Tarango, Manager of Community Engagement Strategy at SRP. “Every year, SRP contributes more than $2 million to support education initiatives throughout Arizona, including teacher grants, free professional development workshops for teachers, funding to organizations dedicated to advance education in the state and more.”

Draft Day included celebrities, community partners and others making surprise phone calls and notifications to the recipients. Each of the 500 unique wishes will benefit teachers, schools and students by providing technology, classroom furniture, fitness equipment, reading materials and much more.

In addition to the $2,500 award, recipients are invited to attend the Rate Bowl where they are honored on the field in a halftime presentation and to march in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade presented by Lerner & Rowe.

The recipients were selected in a random drawing during the Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers Draft Day presented by SRP.