Chocolate and Wine for Valentine raises more than $10K for teachers
Published in the February 4-17, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo courtesy Teachers Aid Coalition
Guests at last year’s Chocolate and Wine for Valentine event enjoy a painting in the silent auction.
Chocolate and wine — will you be Morgan Hill’s schools’ Valentine? Morgan Hill’s Teachers Aid Coalition is gearing up for its annual Chocolate & Wine for Valentine event to raise money to purchase classroom supplies to help local students learn more effectively.
This year’s event will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 7 in the El Toro Room at the downtown Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center. Tickets cost $25 and can be purchased at BookSmart and the dentist office of Jon Hatakeyama and Don Nguyen.
TAC was started by Hatakeyama because he had a lot of local educators in his dentist practice and learned from them that because of funding cuts, many Morgan Hill Unified School District teachers spent their own money to buy basic classroom supplies such as chalk and paper.
“The teachers were more or less obligated to get these things,” he said. “Teachers on the average spend about $500 from their own pockets for classroom supplies.”
Money raised at TAC’s popular social gathering/tasting event goes to purchase supplies that are given out in September and early spring in the multi-purpose room at P.A. Walsh STEAM Academy.
“There was such a high demand that we do it twice a year now, when school starts in the fall and also the equivalent of the spring quarter,” Hatakeyama said.
TAC members conduct a survey of teachers to ask what they need for their classrooms so that they are not purchasing items that they don’t need or are not of value to students learning ability. The nonprofit organization learned early on that many teachers, especially those in math classes, have specialized requirements for basic supplies.
Photo courtesy Teachers Aid Coalition
David Martinez, a sixth-grade P.A. Walsh teacher, picks up classroom supplies at last year’s Teachers Aid Coalition event.
“(When TAC first started), we first went to different office supply places and would get all these odds and ends that teachers couldn’t use,” Hatakeyama said. “And so we decided it would be better to raise funds and buy the things that teachers could use. One thing led to another and now we have this Chocolate and Wine for Valentine’s event that we’ve been doing for the last four years. And it’s been very successful.”
This year TAC is partnering with the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill for added support in organizing the event.
Local wine makers that will provide vino for tasting include Castillo Hillside Shire Winery, Guglielmo Winery, Sycamore Creek, Clos LaChance, Medeiros Family Wines, and Fernwood Cellars. Chocolate treats will be provided by various regional confectioners and bakeries including See’s Candy and Baba Joon’s Chocolate Chewies. Local restaurants will supply appetizers for people to enjoy along with the wine and chocolate. Usually, up to 170 people attend the event, and many of them participate in the raffle and silent auction to receive unique prizes such as photos and bottles of wine packages.
In the past, KBAY DJ Jona Denz Hamilton has been active in helping as the master or ceremonies, but she was unable to make it this year. Ron Woolf, a member of the Morgan Hill school board and a former adult education teacher for the district, will serve in that role this year.
“I’ve been involved with the Teachers Aid Coalition for about five years now,” Woolf said. “What they do is invite all the teachers in the district to come to where the give-away site is. Recently, it’s been at P.A. Walsh school. They have tables set up with all kinds of supplies there, some of which are not readily available to teachers and others they love to have or things that they would spend their own money on.”
At the September supply give-away, about 100 teachers showed up for supplies, he said. Many of them are new teachers who learn about the give-away during their orientation meeting at the beginning of the school year. Materials that are especially in popular demand include writing paper and composition books, pencils, glue, folders, erasers, and art paper.
Besides supplies purchased by the fundraising efforts TAC does, the group seeks donations from people for items students might need in classroom learning. Offices often provide supplies — such as paper goods – that they don’t use.
“Usually during the year, we give away somewhere between $10,000 and $11,000 (in supplies), and that’s wholesale prices,” Woolf said. “Teachers are more than appreciative. They tell us all the time that they look forward to this. They love it. They just think it’s great.”
TAC is always seeking help from people who might want to volunteer a couple of hours of their time organizing the give-away event and laying out items on tables, he said. It also welcomes people who want to join TAC to volunteer in organizing the annual chocolate and wine fundraising event.
“It really shows how the people really care about the teachers in the school district,” Woolf said. “I would just like to encourage everybody to support the event on the seventh of February. This is basically our sole fundraiser. And it’s a lot of fun. I know people who come from outside our community, they come from San Jose and they have a ball. They are so impressed with Morgan Hill and how the people of Morgan Hill supports education and our school district.”
