Poinciana High School Teacher Wins Free Classroom Makeover from Addition Financial Credit Union

Intensive Reading and ESOL Teacher at Poinciana High School Jeannette Colon-Caraballo and her students will start the new school year in a very special way after receiving a beautifully upgraded classroom makeover from Addition Financial Credit Union!

During Addition Financial Credit Union’s 5th annual ‘Renovate to Educate Contest they selected one public school teacher from Osceola, Orange, Seminole, and Lake and counties to receive a free classroom makeover, providing renovations of roughly $3,500 per classroom. This year, Poinciana High School Teacher Intensive Reading and ESOL Teacher at Poinciana High School Jeannette Colon-Caraballo was selected to receive the classroom makeover.

The classroom reveals took place from July 31 through August 2, where teachers had the opportunity to see their brand-new classrooms come to life with school district officials and Addition Financial representatives on hand.

“I’m always thinking about may kids, and they’re going to LOVE this – this is amazing. I love everything. Me being from Puerto Rico and know I have students from many countries and with the number of different languages they speak Addition Financial has really helped them to learn, and me to be able to teach them. This is something great they are doing for the schools,” Colon-Caraballo said after the ‘Renovate to Educate Contest’ reveal.

The winning teachers selected teach a range of subjects and grade levels:

• Jeannette Colon-Caraballo, 9^th-12^th grade Intensive Reading/ Latinos in Action/ English Language Development at Poinciana High School in Kissimmee
• Alyssa Snyder, 3^rd grade teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Orlando
• Nicole Sanservino, 6^th-8^th grade ESE teacher at Cecil E Gray Middle School in Groveland
• Eva Velez, an intensive reading teacher at Seminole High School 9^th Grade Center in Sanford

“Teachers built Addition Financial’s foundation over the past 85 plus years, so giving back to them will always be a rewarding part of what we do,” said Kevin Miller, President and CEO of Addition Financial Credit Union. “Ultimately, the teachers are asking for these renovations for their students, so knowing that the children will be learning every day in these beautifully redesigned classrooms is at the heart of Addition Financial’s Renovate to Educate program.”

To bring the teachers’ visions to life, Addition Financial teamed up with Seminole State College’s Interior Design program, hiring paid interns to collaborate with each individual teacher while gaining hands-on, real-world experience. Then volunteers from Addition Financial picked up the paint brushes and Allen wrenches, completing the classroom renovations in four separate three-day windows during the summer, leading up to the big reveals.