On August 12, the local Walmart in Price, Utah posted to their Facebook page asking locals to comment with the name and school of a teacher they felt deserved recognition. The post said, “We would like to show our appreciation for the teachers that shape our world.” They went on to say that there would be a special gift for the teacher who received the most nominations.
The initial post received teacher nominations from various schools throughout Carbon and Emery Counties. In a follow-up post on August 16, Walmart asked what members of the community believed should go in a gift basket for the winning teacher, and reiterated their call for nominations. The second post garnered more responses and the store posted on August 25th identifying five teachers in the Price area who had tied in nominations.
Mrs. Autumn Clark of Wellington Elementary, Mrs. Alaena Fryer formerly of Pinnacle Canyon Academy and currently of Mont Harmon Middle School, Mrs. Megan Funk of Pinnacle Canyon Academy, Mr. Del Funk of Pinnacle Canyon Academy, and Mrs. Mikella Neilson of Pinnacle Canyon Academy were the final contenders and the store asked once again for community members to help them by voting for one of the named teachers, and said that the winner would be announced on Monday the 29th.
Walmart Price announced that teachers Autumn Clark of Wellington and Alaena Fryer of Mont Harmon were the winners of the gift basket giveaway. A few days later, on September 2nd, a store representative visited both teachers to give them their gift baskets.
The teachers were grateful. Mrs. Clark said, " I really appreciate all of the community that voted for me on the Walmart #givingback giveaway. I never knew I was appreciated by so many people. Thank you to Walmart for going above and beyond in making my classroom that much better!" And Mrs. Fryer said, “Thank you to all those who nominated and voted for me. Thank you to Walmart for recognizing teachers and how hard they work. Thank you to the community for supporting all teachers and trusting us with your children everyday.”