A super secret school assembly turned out to be a special surprise for teachers and students at Fairview Elementary and Eblen Intermediate schools.
Fairview principal Dr. Bonnie Bolado told her students and teachers to expect some special guests, but said little more about the brief end-of-day assembly she’d scheduled for Thursday. Once students had filled the gym, she introduced special guests from Altar’d State, which operates a retail store in Biltmore Park.
Nikki Nettles of Altar’d State announced the store was donating $20,000 in credit for Fairview Elementary with AdoptAClassroom.org. The amount will be shared among the school’s teachers to buy extra supplies for classrooms in the new school year.
Once the cheering subsided, Nettles announced another $20,000 in AdoptAClassroom.org credit would be shared by teachers of Eblen Intermediate. The crowd erupted into more cheers, as principal Josh Fisher and assistant principal Lakeisha Lee, who were visiting from Eblen, waived in celebration.
“We know it’s been a challenging year, and Asheville has one of Altar’d State’s oldest stores, so our company feels like this is home,” Nettles shared. “We wanted to do something to celebrate Asheville-area students and teachers and share this gift with your schools.”
Students shared their appreciation by serenading the guests with the Fairview school song, accompanied by music teacher Taylor Sanders on guitar.
"Our song is all about community, and I love that students can see how big our community can be, including our friends from Altar’d State who’ve shared this tremendous gift,” said Sanders. “This donation will help provide tools and supplies to make learning even more engaging and meaningful, and we are very grateful.”
The principals from Eblen Intermediate were excited to share the news with teachers at their school as well.
“Having wonderful community partners like Altar’d State who wrap their arms around our school community is a tremendous blessing,” said Fisher.
The assembly concluded with many “thank you’s” and hugs. One student even gave Nettles the dinosaur crayons in his pocket to thank her for the gift Altar’d State shared with his school.
“We heard this school year started with the theme ‘Together We Rise,’” said Nettles, “and we are so happy to be a part of that.”