Vote for Cartersville Primary Class in SONIC Drive-In Donations

A Cartersville Primary School class is one of 170 in Georgia and more than 6,000 across the country competing for donations in SONIC Drive-In's 2012 Limeades for Learning campaign.

Mrs. Philliber's Anchors Away! project requests funding for materials for first-graders to create anchor charts, which are emphasized in the new Common Core Standards, according to the website.

"My students love to interact and be a part of creating visuals," Philliber wrote. "The resources I've requested will provide my students a chance to do just that! We will use Post-It notes each and every day to let my students post responses, write stories and participate. I think it will help my students become more motivated to write, and they will become excited to see their work displayed."

Limeades for Learning, in partnership with DonorsChoose.org, allows the public to vote online for their favorite public school classroom projects, directing more than half a million dollars in SONIC donations to local schools.

SONIC has donated more than $2 million to public school classrooms through the program since 2009.

"The rush and excitement that comes with the start of a new school year can quickly change if teachers aren’t equipped with the resources to inspire their students to learn," said James O’Reilly, chief marketing officer for SONIC. "For that reason, SONIC’s commitment through Limeades for Learning is a true partnership with our communities and lets our customers and the public direct our dollars to the public school classroom projects that mean the most to them."

The classroom projects with the most votes each week in the five-week campaign are fully funded by SONIC. Anyone with a valid email address can vote online once per day at LimeadesforLearning.com from Sept. 24 through Oct. 29, with every 10 votes unlocking two bonus votes awarded via email.

Vote for or donate to Mrs. Philliber's class project Anchors Away!, which is nearly 70 percent funded.

In addition, visit the local drive-in and receive two extra votes via special bag stickers with any SONIC purchase.

Two special incentives are in place to motivate voters to vote daily and campaign for their favorite projects. If 4 million votes are cast by Oct. 29, SONIC will unlock an additional $100,000 to fund more classroom projects. The 4 million vote mark also earns all voters a coupon for a free medium Cherry Limeade.

The number of SONIC teacher projects— ranging in subjects from literature to science to art supplies—was nearly 6,000 as of Sept. 24. That number is hardly surprising following the results of a recent study by the National School Supply and Equipment Association. According to the study, public school teachers spent an estimated $3.5 billion on educational products during the 2009-10 school year. Teachers' personal money is the most common source of money for classroom educational products according to the report.

"I spend quite a bit of my own money each year, providing things to enhance their education," Philliber said on the project website. "I used Post-It notes last year for a small amount of time and found my students became very excited to use these notes on our interactive bulletin boards. This project will make my students' contributions occur daily, without causing me more expense."

Visit LimeadesforLearning.com for more information on Limeades for Learning and how teachers, students and the public can get involved to support public education.

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