SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – A Seminole County special needs teacher was surprised with a dream makeover to her classroom on Thursday.
Brianna Balch teaches deaf and hard-of-hearing students at Altamonte Elementary School and is one of four winners of Addition Financial Credit Union’s 6th annual Renovate to Educate contest.
The contest selects one public school teacher from Orange, Seminole, Lake, and Osceola counties to receive roughly $4,000 in renovations.
During Thursday’s reveal, Balch said the makeover wildly exceeded her expectations.
“It looks like a completely different classroom,” Balch said. “My students are going to absolutely love it and I just feel more inspired to teach my kids now than ever.”
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The Renovate to Educate program invites teachers to apply for classroom renovations by submitting an essay about their visions for a dream classroom.
To bring the visions to life, Addition Financial teamed up with Seminole State College’s Interior Design Program and hired paid interns to collaborate with the winning teachers while gaining real-world experience.
Balch said some of her most important upgrades were added storage, a reading area, two “calm down” corners, and vibrant colors throughout the room.
“Just being in a fun, welcoming classroom environment is really important for all students, but especially our students who learn through their eyes,” Balch said.
This year, winners of the contest were selected from Palmetto Elementary School in Orlando, Neptune Elementary in St. Cloud, Altamonte Elementary, and Sorrento Elementary.
After each of the classrooms are designed, team members from Addition Financial work on the renovations to bring the vision to life.
“Giving back to teachers is at the root of everything that we do,” Executive Director of Addition Financial Foundation Cristina Lehman said. “I know how much this is going to impact not only students this year, but students for many years to come.”
Balch said she’s looking forward to showing off her new classroom to students when school begins on Aug. 12.
“Being able to provide them a quality education is important and I hope they enjoy it,” she said.
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