SHEFFIELD TWP. – Cheryl Smith cried when she found out.

The second-grade teacher said they were happy tears – shed after learning she was one of 10 Vincent Elementary School teachers who had won a $100 gift card from Wal-Mart as a way for the superstore to show its appreciation to teachers who spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars of their own money each year on their students.

It wasn’t so much the money, which will likely only cover a fraction of what Smith plans to spend for the classroom this year and next.

It was the “thank you,” she said, that got her so emotional.

“You feel rewarded every day when kids are learning and you see their faces and the hugs and all, but to be rewarded by strangers is also nice,” said Smith, who has taught at Clearview schools for 30 years. “I was totally excited and shocked. It was quite a surprise.”

She and the other teachers had no idea they were even eligible for the reward when they walked into an end-of-day school assembly in the gymnasium Thursday afternoon.

“I’m telling them it’s a teacher appreciation assembly,” Principal Virginia Fitch said before the assembly began.

All 43 teachers at Vincent Elementary were handed a balloon as they entered. They were told to break the balloon however they wanted and whoever got a balloon with confetti in it would win a special prize.

“The kids were so excited,” Smith said. “That pumped us up, too.”

Some teachers pulled, some squeezed and others used their teeth to see if they were holding the winning balloons, which were passed out so that a teacher from each grade level and some from the special education programs won.

“People don’t realize how much teachers put of their own money into their classrooms,” Fitch said. “As soon as they called me from Wal-Mart, I said yes right away before I knew most of the details.”

Wal-Marts across the country have been choosing local schools in the last few months to benefit from the annual Wal-Mart Foundation Teacher Rewards Program. Tish Reinoehl, personnel manager for the Midway Mall location, said she convinced her associates to choose Vincent in part because of its obvious need.

“I went there in the fifth grade, and I’m in my 40s now and the school was run down then,” she said. “Since then they’ve built on to the school, but they still have a lot of low-income families there, and we wanted to give to schools that have a need.”

Reinoehl provided goodie bags filled with pencils, crayons and other school supplies to the 33 teachers who didn’t win gift cards.

Smith said she’ll probably use her winnings on food for her class, which is learning measurements and will soon be taught about Johnny Appleseed with a lesson on making applesauce.

“It’s about them, so that’s where the money will go,” she said.

Contact Adam Wright at 329-7155 or awright@chroniclet.com.

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