Every elementary and middle school in the United States and half of Canada were invited to participate in the “Save, Vote, Win” competition hosted by Cartridge World.
The stakes?
$15,000 in prize money for the school that logged on to a website and voted the most times.
The winner?
None other than J. Harold Van Zant Elementary School in Evesham Township.
The school logged more than 6,000 votes in the contest, blowing away the competition according to Walter Long, owner of Cartridge World in Cherry Hill.
Long surprised the students and faculty on Thursday, April 26, during an assembly to present them with the $15,000 check. The competition “wasn’t even close,” Long said, and Van Zant bested the second highest school by more than 1,000 votes.
“There are a lot of problems in schools right now. They’re losing money, cutting budgets and laying off staff,” Long said. “So we said to ourselves, lets do something to help schools in the country. Cartridge World wanted to not only give back to our communities, but thought our efforts should be geared toward helping our schools with what they need most, money. As a group we decided to have a contest involving any and all elementary schools and middle schools in America and Canada.”
In addition to the school that received the most votes, two other schools were chosen at random to receive a $15,000 award, Long said.
The award was a surprise, as only Principal Rosemary McMullen and one front office employee knew that the elementary school won the award prior to the announcement during the assembly.
When she welcomed the students in for the assembly, she kept up appearances and didn’t tell them that they won until she introduced Long and he produced the check.
McMullen said the money is going to be used for technology purposes.
The school is going to purchase two Active Boards, and two Notepads to go along with the interactive technology. McMullen said two laptops would be purchased to go along with the technology carts currently being used in the school as well.
As the students and teachers cheered the announcement, Long presented the check to McMullen and the school’s PTA president.
“This is a great way for us to give back and we congratulate the school for winning,” Long said.
