Student’s essay wins grant for teacher’s classroom

FRANKFORD — When Emma Cooper’s teacher, Emily Slota, announced her name in front of her fourth-grade classmates last week, the 10-year-old did not immediately know what was going on.

“I thought I was in trouble,” Emma said.

In fact, it was just the opposite; Emma was being celebrated as the winner of the Above and “Bee”yond Teacher Essay Contest sponsored by Applebee’s, earning a $500 classroom check for Slota and an end-of-the-year party for the class at the restaurant chain’s Newton location.

The contest was offered at numerous Applebee’s restaurants in New Jersey owned and operated by local franchisee Doherty Enterprises. Four winners were chosen from different geographic areas, with Emma’s selected from all entries in Sussex, Morris and Essex counties.

Each essay, 500 words for middle and high school students and half a page for children in elementary school, explained why the contestant’s teacher deserved to be the Applebee’s Teacher of the Year. Emma’s letter described Slota’s “friendly and witty personality” as one of her key characteristics in being an effective teacher.

“I feel that Mrs. Slota is the best nominee because she is always sweet, supportive, fair and she thinks very highly of her students as well as others,” Emma wrote. “She teaches in a positive and humorous manner with unique hospitality.”

Emma gave even higher praise when asked Monday about her reasoning for nominating Slota, responding, “I think she’s just the best teacher in the universe.”

Emma said she learned about the essay contest from her grandmother, who emailed the details to her mother in February. The fourth-grader worked on her wording for several weeks — completing a rough draft before her mother helped type it up — and handed in her submission to the Applebee’s in Newton on March 30, the day before the contest deadline.

Slota had no knowledge that one of her students had written about her, finding out about the contest only when she received a phone call from the main office. Once an employee of Doherty Enterprises informed her that her classroom was chosen as a winner of the grant for the 2018-19 school year, she shared the good news with Emma and the rest of the class.

“It was a really nice surprise,” Slota said of Emma’s essay. “It made my day.”

Because Frankford has placed a heavy emphasis on STEM education, Slota is planning to use much of the money on various technological devices. She is looking to purchase makerspaces, collaborative work areas where students learn and explore STEM aspects, as well as Bloxels, a platform in which students use plastic cubes to build their own video games.

In addition, Slota’s students have persuaded her to buy a fish next year as a “class pet.”

The party at Applebee’s is tentatively scheduled for June 20, and Emma said the students’ excitement for the trip was evident as soon as their class was announced as a winner.

“Everyone was literally running around saying, ‘Yay, Emma! We get to go to Applebee’s!'” she said.

While Slota repeatedly mentioned how great all the students in her class are this year, she has formed a special bond with Emma, calling her “my little buddy.” With her classroom set to receive an extra $500 in spending money, she expressed gratitude for the efforts of her student to make it happen.

“I want to say thank you so much,” Slota said to Emma. “You definitely made my day, and I’m really excited.”

 

Kyle Morel can also be contacted on Twitter: @KMorelNJH, on Facebook: Facebook.com/KMorelNJH, or by phone: 973-383-1292.