Four area classrooms will benefit this year from a donation by a longtime supporter of local schools.
Dr. John Lazzara of Lazzara Orthodontics gave four teachers each a $250 gift certificate to purchase supplies they needed for their classes. It was the latest in Lazzara’s long history of donations he has made to the schools; over the past 13 years, he has given between $100,000 and $200,000.
“It’s fun, and it’s very gratifying every year,” Lazzara said. “It’s fun to see how excited the teachers are and to get feedback from them on what their project is going to be or what they’re going to use the money for.”
When Lazzara moved his practice to the First Coast from New Orleans in 2007, he knew he wanted to get involved with the schools here. At first, he made donations to the PTOs of local schools. The PTOs then allocated the funds as they believed would best benefit the schools.
Then, a few years ago, he decided to put some money directly into the hands of the teachers.
An application process was devised, and teachers would write in with details on the needs of their classrooms and how they would spend the money. Winners were selected from those applying.
This year, because of the many challenges arising from the pandemic, the rules were loosened up a bit. All teachers had to do to apply was list the grades and subjects they taught and how many years they have been teaching.
The result was tremendous. More than 400 teachers entered – a lot more than the Lazzara team normally saw.
Winners were:
