If you are looking for an opportunity to rally around local teachers — literally and figuratively — prior to back-to-school, consider Pickleball Palooza at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 24 at Corbett’s, 340 N. 6th Ave.
The inaugural noncompetitive pickleball fundraiser will benefit Tucson Values Teachers (TVT), a local nonprofit that seeks to support, attract and retain teachers in Southern Arizona.
“We wanted to create an event for the public to participate in without feeling they are showing up to a standard nonprofit event. Since pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the country right now, we thought it would be a good opportunity to piggyback on that and get the public’s interest,” said Danicka Allen, Director of Marketing and Communications for Tucson Values Teachers.
The event is spearheaded and hosted by CarePatrol, local senior care advisors who aid families in finding assisted living, independent living and dementia care services.
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“We really wanted to support Tucson Values Teachers and get people to know who they are and what they do. At the same time, we get our name out there, so it is a win-win type of partnership,” said Maria Romero, co-owner of CarePatrol with Karina Felix.
Romero and Felix share a background in technology support for elementary schools and decided that a pickleball event for all skill levels would be a fun way to support local teachers.
“We have a passion for working with teachers and understand their challenges. Karina was a teacher herself and we have seen what they go through on a daily basis with salaries and funding cuts and wanted to do something for them,” Romero said.
Proceeds from the event will support TVT programming. Funds will also support Lumia, a new digital platform and professional networking site exclusively for Southern Arizona teachers that TVT plans to launch early next year. The online site will enable teachers to collaborate with peers who teach similar grades and subjects; for example, many schools have only one chemistry teacher for freshmen, so a Lumia group dedicated to freshmen chemistry teachers will offer opportunities for teachers to come together and share content and ideas.
“This will give teachers opportunities to collaborate on lesson plans and best practices and provide other support so they don’t feel so isolated. One of the biggest challenges that teachers face, in addition to wages and burnout, is the feeling of isolation,” Allen said.
The upcoming fundraiser will also combat isolation by providing interaction between teachers and the public. The event caters to everyone from “newbies to seasoned pickleball professionals” and offers lessons for beginners as well as instruction on pickleball rules.
“We just want to get everyone out there to have fun,” Allen said.
The event also promotes awareness about TVT programs, including Tucson Supplies Teachers, which last year provided 250 teachers with $100 gift cards to purchase classroom supplies.
“This is important because lots of times school districts aren’t able to provide teachers with the resources they need to fully fund supplies for their classrooms and, unfortunately, the funds often end up coming out of teachers’ pockets, which just compounds the wage disparity. Tucson Supplies Teachers tries to lesson this burden on teachers,” Allen said.
Additionally, TVT also offers a monthly Teacher’s Excellence Award throughout the school year to acknowledge outstanding effort and surprise a teacher with a $100 supplies gift card, a $250 check and other gifts.
“Sometimes teachers feel like they have a thankless job, and this gives them acknowledgement that people appreciate all they do,” Allen said.
