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Dorchester teacher who donated $150K prize to her school gets big surprise on ‘Ellen Show’
Nicole Bollerman, a third-grade teacher at UP Academy Dorchester, was most recently in the news after winning $150,000 in the “Wish for Others” contest from Capital One and donating every cent back to her school. That act of charity led to her appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday, where more generosity was in store.
Thanks to a donation from Target, the students at UP Academy Dorchester will receive 700 backpacks, each filled with school supplies and a $100 Target gift card, while each of the 70 teachers will receive $500 gift cards. But that wasn’t the end of Ellen’s surprises.
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Inside a gigantic aquarium full of skittles — one of Bollerman’s preferred treats — was a check for $25,000.
According to the Ellen Show blog, Bollerman will put the $25,000 towards earning a Master’s in education, as well as upgrading her car.
According to The Boston Globe, Bollerman entered the Wish for Others contest just before Thanksgiving, writing in her essay, “I’m a third-grade teacher in a low-income, high-risk elementary school in Boston, MA. My #wish for others is that my voracious, adorable, hard-working, loving scholars all leave for their December break with a book in their hand.”
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Along with the $150,000 grand prize that Bollerman donated to the school, Capital One also sent books to all of her students.
“My kids have overcome some serious adversity,” Bollerman told the Globe in an interview yesterday. “I just really thought I could make a difference in their lives with that money. It’s just a sliver of what those kids deserve.”
Bollerman also told the Ellen Show blog that the $150,000 would do more than just benefit the school.
“When we impact the school positively, the community is impacted positively,” she adds. “I know the school and the community are both going to benefit.”
[h/t The Ellen Show]
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