Color this Challenger School teacher humbled
Manuel Mathis’ second-grade classroom at Challenger School’s Silverado campus is colorful and welcoming. White boards contain details of daily lessons; images of Spider-man and Black Panther highlight bulletin boards where students’ work is posted; and tacked up in front is that horizontal letter printing guide that’s been a fixture of every grade school classroom since the alphabet was invented.
But as welcoming as Mathis’ classroom is now, it’s likely to become even more colorful when it undergoes a revamp that comes courtesy
CRAYOLA
of student Carson Redford.
A few months ago, Carson, 8, entered the “Thank A Teacher Contest” sponsored by the makers of Crayola Crayons, illustrating why Mathis is his favorite teacher. Carson’s entry was a winner and, as a prize, Mathis’ classroom will receive a $10,000 makeover (with the option that some of the money can be used throughout the school).
Challenger School also will receive a one-year supply of Crayola products, Carson received a $1,000 scholarship, and Mathis and the school each won a $1,000 gift card.
Carson, 8, says he was inspired to enter the contest first because “I just like entering contests and I like getting the prizes.”
Carson’s entry features a multicolored brain — built upon the contest’s cloud motif — and the words “Thank you! … for making learning colorful” surrounded by icons denoting “everything I learned from this school.”
Carson’s other inspiration: That Mathis is “a phenomenal teacher.”
Mathis, sitting beside Carson, smiles at the comment. “That’s a good adjective,” he says.
Carson says he was “really excited” when he learned that he had won the contest. “My mom told me I won it,” he says. “Then I was dancing all over the house.”
News of the win — and of the contest itself — also surprised Mathis. He recalls receiving a call a few weeks ago from a Crayola representative.
“I didn’t know anything about it,” Mathis says. “Honestly, for a day or two I just ignored it.”
A few days later, the representative called again, saying she’d email him a form to fill out.
“Thankfully, my wife is connected to my email,” Mathis says. “My wife goes, ‘I think you won something.’ ”
“We didn’t know the contest existed,” adds Sarah Shurko, the school’s headmaster.
But, Shurko adds, “all of the pieces made sense when I saw how great (Carson’s) drawing was.”
Mathis, 31, has been at Challenger