Tag Archive for: Whitehouse

9 Texas Teachers Get Wishlists Cleared By Stonewater Roofing

For the fifth year in a row, Stonewater Roofing has helped Texas teachers clear their classroom wishlists as part of the company’s #ClearTheList initiative. Employees from Stonewater visited nine educators in East Texas, DFW, and the Austin area with boxes full of markers, paper, pencils, and some more eccentric items.

This year’s #ClearTheList winners are:

  • Adriana Alegria, Thomas J. Rusk Elementary School in Nacogdoches
  • Kelly Bonnette, Cain Elementary School in Whitehouse
  • Jennifer Constante, Three Lakes Middle School in Tyler
  • Elizabeth Coti, Sabine High School in Gladewater
  • Layne Fumo, Caldwell Arts Academy in Tyler
  • Travis Kincheloe, Georgetown High School in Georgetown
  • Melynn Lopez, L.D. Bell High School in Hurst
  • Alejandra Sanchez, Trinity Basin Preparatory School in Fort Worth
  • Michelle Springborn, McCoy Elementary School in Georgetown

The #ClearTheList movement started as a nationwide social media push, urging strangers to help teachers get supplies for their classrooms. School districts are often unable to provide everything that students need throughout the year, putting that burden on the already underpaid teachers to pay for supplies out of their own pockets. Educators began sharing their Amazon wishlists with the #ClearTheList hashtag in hopes that other kind souls would help foot the bill.

Stonewater took that to the next level by picking some teachers and literally clearing their lists. Applicants were asked to submit a short, creative video explaining who they are and how the supplies would help their kids during the coming school year. “The fact that Stonewater Roofing is willing to give back to their community and educators,” said Sanchez, “speaks highly of you all.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

“Everything you see always comes out of pocket,” explained Coti, as Stonewater employees delivered her supplies. “They’re doing this not just for me as a teacher, but for my students, so they can have a great learning environment.”

“It’s such a blessing to have people who hear what I’m doing and see the passion that I have with teaching, and get rewarded for that,” added Fumo.

In the five years that Stonewater has been helping teachers, Constante’s list was by far the most unique. The U.S. history teacher wanted costumes, props, models, and a life-size cardboard cutout of George Washington. “I’m going to be using them for room transformations, for simulations, for hands-on learning experiences for the students to bring history to life,” she said.

While the teachers definitely enjoy the school supply deliveries, Stonewater’s employees may enjoy them even more. “It’s a great feeling. It’s a really fulfilling moment just seeing the teacher go through the things and explaining how they’ll apply it throughout the year,” said solar sales coordinator Anayo Onyi.

In addition to the teachers selected through the contest, Stonewater also helped a member of their own family. Dawn Pierce, wife of Stonewater direct sales supervisor Chris Pierce, is a teacher at Nacogdoches High School. Although she did not have a wishlist prepared, the company donated $1,000 to help her purchase books and other materials for her students.

“Thank you so much for everything that you guys have done,” said Lopez, who recruited some of her former students to provide testimonials during her video. “This is so amazing, and teachers are so blessed by you guys.”

“Thank you to Stonewater Roofing,” added Kincheloe. His wife and daughter submitted a video nominating him for Stonewater’s contest, and he had no idea. “We appreciate your support of teachers and public education. We’ll make you proud.”

Stonewater Helps 12 Teachers Get Classroom School Supplies

Stonewater Roofing continued its late summer tradition this year by hand-delivering overloaded boxes of school supplies to East Texas teachers as part of the company’s #ClearTheList campaign. This marks the fourth year that the roofing company has given back to area educators by buying up items on their classroom wish lists.

This was Stonewater Roofing’s biggest school supply drop yet with a total of 12 teachers receiving stacks of books, games, paints, and other learning tools. More than 450 items were delivered to campuses, elementary to high school, from the Longview area to the DFW area.

In order to be considered for the contest, applicants were asked to submit a short video explaining why they — or the teacher who they were nominating — deserved to have their classroom wish list cleared. The following list of winners were selected from those video submissions.

  • Deedra Evans, Cheney Hills Elementary School in Richland Hills
  • Yessenia Hernandez, East Side Elementary School in Jacksonville
  • Michelle Hill, Pine Tree Primary School in Longview
  • Sara Loredo, Three Lakes Middle School in Tyler
  • Katie Martin, Jacksonville Middle School in Jacksonville
  • Jenelle McClure, E.J. Moss Intermediate School in Lindale
  • Lauren Moore, Hallsville East Elementary School in Hallsville
  • Stephen Niedrauer, Tyler High School in Tyler
  • Ashley Poeschl, Stanton-Smith Elementary School in Whitehouse
  • Tracee Pouliasis, Truman W. Smith Children’s Care Center in Gladewater
  • Shannon Stewart, Boles Junior High School in Arlington

Each teacher had a special story to share with the Stonewater Roofing team. For instance, Hill is a first-year kindergarten teacher after changing careers following a battle with cancer. McClure feels teaching’s financial burden twice as hard each year, because her husband is also an educator in Lindale. Pouliasis works at the only facility in Texas that teams with a public school district to provide in-house education to children suffering from congenital disorders or debilitating injuries.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In addition to those lucky educators, Stonewater Roofing also helped out a member of its own family. Megan Henley is a fourth grade teacher at Bullard Elementary School in Bullard, and the wife of Stonewater Roofing safety manager Rick Henley. “While the contest was being held, we found out about Meg’s own classroom needs,” said COO and co-owner Jacob Law. “It only made sense to help her out as well, and we did so with funds separate from the contest to make sure that it didn’t take away from any of our applicants.”

The #ClearTheList movement began as a social media effort to help educators get necessary school supplies. School districts are unable to keep up with this demand, which forces teachers to purchase materials for their students using money from their own pockets. Many teachers started relying on the kindness of online strangers, posting their Amazon wish lists on social media with the #ClearTheList hashtag. The campaign quickly went viral.

Stonewater Roofing employees delivered all of the school supplies to the winners in the first few weeks of August, just in time for the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

#ClearTheList Returns To Help Teachers From Longview To DFW

The new school year has arrived, but Stonewater Roofing first helped nine lucky teachers get the supplies they needed for their classrooms. It was part of the East Texas company’s annual #ClearTheList campaign, a push to assist underpaid educators by fulfilling their Amazon wishlists.

This was Stonewater Roofing’s third year helping out teachers. It was also the company’s largest school supply drop ever, hand-delivering books, games, pens, stickers and much more. Instructors ranged from elementary to high school and stretched from the DFW area to Longview. Winners were chosen randomly, and this year just so happened to include two ladies from Owens Elementary School in Tyler.

  • Bonnie Carney, Holiday Heights Elementary School in North Richland Hills
  • Regina Cooper Ahn, Bridgemark Center For Learning in Tyler
  • Nicole Dickerson, Stanton-Smith Elementary School in Whitehouse
  • Tracy Dingler, Bullard Elementary School in Bullard
  • Sarah Galland, Velma Penny Elementary School in Lindale
  • Stephanie Pearce, Pine Tree Primary School in Longview
  • Amy Touchstone, Longview High School in Longview
  • Risa Wasik, Owens Elementary School in Tyler
  • Kayla Whiddon, Owens Elementary School in Tyler

The #ClearTheList movement started as a social media phenomenon. School districts simply cannot afford to buy all of the supplies needed for their classrooms. So, many educators started relying on the kindness of online strangers, posting their wishlists and sharing the registries on social media with the #ClearTheList hashtag. The campaign soon turned into a viral sensation.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

“I’ve already spent a lot of money on my classroom, and there’s always more things to buy,” explained Dickerson as she learned that her list would be cleared. “There’s some things on there that we use every single day, like the paper and the markers, the things that get used up and we have to constantly buy.”

“I put so much into my classroom,” added Galland. “Not just money, but time and energy and just my whole heart.”

“If you teach with your heart first, more than anything, they’re going to remember that,” stated Touchstone about her Longview high schoolers. She said that many come from impoverished environments, and they deserve to have the same opportunities found elsewhere. “I feel like God put me in this position, at this school, for right now.”

Employees from Stonewater Roofing brought the overstuffed boxes of school supplies to the teachers before the new school year began. “We have come through probably the hardest year of our teaching careers,” said Carney, referencing the challenges that came about due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This last group of kids made it, and I’m so looking forward to this new group of kids.”

Find Out Who Helped Tyler Dudley Pursue Music

The Lone Star State has no shortage of country music performers, and some of the best up-and-coming artists are being featured in Stonewater Sessions, streaming their newest and most popular songs on Facebook while giving viewers an inside look behind the music. The latest artist in the spotlight is Whitehouse native Tyler Dudley, who is about to release a new album.

Dudley spoke with Stonewater Roofing at The Robot Cave recording studio in Tyler, before his performance at Coach’s & Cowboy’s last month.

“I worked at Cavender’s for years. It was really my only real job,” Dudley recalled. “I was a manager there, and I just didn’t like the whole 9-5 thing.”

That is when Dudley turned his back on retail and decided to pursue his true passion in life. “I’ve always just loved music,” he said. “I had something and wanted to use it. And that made me happy. That’s what it’s all about to me, just doing what you love.”

Dudley is quick to credit others for his success, notably JB Patterson from JB & The Moonshine Band. “I was playing at a sports bar years ago, and we were playing one of JB’s songs and they came up. I think it’s just funny. I feel like that’s just how this industry works is you just meet people. That’s what it’s all about. You just slowly make connections, you meet people, the right people.”

Patterson helped lead Dudley on his journey into the music industry. “He really took me under his wing and just showed me the ways and the routes. He’s produced the album. He’s told me what steps to take. Without him, this would be a whole lot harder to process. So, to have someone like him in my corner to help, it’s kind of crazy.”

But it’s not just famous names that helped Dudley get his start. Perhaps the most influential force behind Dudley’s career was his grandfather. “My grandfather was probably the one that really,” Dudley started. “He used to play guitar a lot and sing around the house. He was the one that really motivated me and wanted me to do it. He passed away a little over a year ago and we wrote a song. We got a song that’s coming out on the EP soon.”

Tyler Dudley talks about his music career with Stonewater Roofing.

However, the first single from that EP is “Heart the Size of Texas.” Dudley performed the song live for Stonewater Sessions. “It’s another one of those songs that’s pretty self-explanatory, about a girl that I met that had a heart the size of Texas, had a really big heart, and just cared more than she probably should have about a lot of different things, about other people and myself.”

Dudley also performed “Wastin’ My Time,” which he said is about “a relationship that I felt was just going nowhere.”

“I definitely think that music is a great way for anybody that’s going through anything like that can listen to something and know that someone else is going through kind of the same thing,” Dudley said. “I think that’s the wonderful thing about music.”