SCHOOL SPECIALTY & SPHERION PARTNER TO DONATE $20K IN SUPPLIES TO MADISON

Article originally published by Richland Source, October 21, 2022

MADISON — The game-day excitement started early Friday morning at Madison High School. Cheerleaders waved pom poms and led chants while the marching band played from the corner of the high school gym. Madison's football, soccer and cross country teams all have big competitions this weekend, but the student body was cheering for a different reason.

School Specialty and Spherion Mid Ohio partnered to surprise staff and students with a donation of school supplies. The truckload included a variety of supplies worth more than $20,000. "We're just honored and grateful to be able to give back to a community that has supported us for so long in our mission, which is essentially supporting schools across the United States," said Joe Geltz, School Specialty's senior vice president of supply chain and process excellence.

School Specialty's local facility has been hiring high school students for summer employment for more than 30 years. Many of School Specialty's local summer hires are referred through Spherion of Mid Ohio. 

This year, the two companies created a raffle with local school districts getting one ticket for each student employed at School Specialty last summer. 

Jessica Hiser, director of marketing and advertising for Spherion Mid Ohio, said there were more than 100 students from 14 local districts represented. "We know that a lot of teachers use their own funds to get school supplies and districts have to allocate those funds across many different grades and different levels," Hiser said.  "We hope that this truckload of school supplies can be a cushion for them and hopefully something they can use for many years to come."

Between the upcoming competitions and the surprise donation, the school was abuzz Friday morning. "I think the students are super appreciative and excited. Today's a huge day for us," high school principal Sean Conway said. "That's the one thing about the Madison community is they're just such a caring group of people."

In addition to classroom supplies, the donation also included some sanitation and janitorial supplies. Conway said the district plans to divide the supplies between its schools and put them to good use right away. "It's an assortment that can range from all grade levels," he said. "It's something that every building will benefit from."

Supt. Rob Peterson said the district is grateful for Spherion and School Specialty's partnership in providing employment opportunities for Madison students over the years. "We are also very appreciative of the $20,000 mass donation of school and classroom supplies that we received today," he added. "The supplies will greatly benefit our students and staff."

Representatives from Spherion and School Specialty say they hope to make the donation raffle an annual event.