Magic carpet rides, excursions to the depths of the sea, trips to outer space and other classroom adventures will be much easier for Pine Belt-area students, thanks to the good folks at Anderson Design Center in Hattiesburg.
Last Friday, area teachers from across the Pine Belt lined up outside the west Hattiesburg business for what has become the ever-popular and growing Anderson Teacher Program giveaway, now in its 16th year. Anderson has been giving away bound carpets to teachers in Pre-K through third grade within a 50-mile radius of Hattiesburg each year before the start of a new school year. The rugs are free of charge and are available on a first-come-first-serve basis while supplies last.
This year the store gave away more than 300 rugs in various sizes, mostly 6x9, 8x10 and 9x12.
What started out as remnant giveaway has turned into the business purchasing a decent product for the giveaway.
According to business owner Allen Anderson, the giveaway got started when teachers approached him through the years about getting a carpet remnant for their classroom with a “don’t tell anybody where you got this” reply. Word of mouth spread and before long the program became something real and has even grown into a party of sorts.
Coffee, supplied by The Daily Grind, juice, milk and doughnuts from Midtown Donut and Krispy Kreme provided sustenance for teachers as they waited their turn to select a rug.
Although the doors didn’t open until 7:30 a.m. Friday, Debra Eskew Rigney, a teacher at Buckatunna Elementary in Wayne County, was No. 5 in line at 5:45 a.m. The Gifted Education educator teaches grades second through eighth and said this will be the new game-time rug. “I am a chatty person and it was incredible to meet other teachers,”she said of her first time to get a rug.“I was totally excited and very thankful to Anderson Designs for this generous gift. It will definitely be put to great use. I can’t wait for the kids to see it.”
Numbers were handed out as teachers lined up. Ten numbers were called at a time as teachers, many sporting the logos and colors of their respective schools, made their way into the designated area to choose their rug and then have it loaded. Some with smaller cars questioned whether it would fit, but one of Anderson's loaders provided assurance and took it as a challenge, explaining rather proudly how he once loaded a rug into a small Kia.
Kelly Parker, a speech-language pathologist at West Marion Primary School, got to the business about 6:15 a.m. where she met up with other WMPS colleagues. She was No. 31.
This was Parker’s first time to take advantage of the Teacher Giveaway Program.
She said she will use the rug she got for her preschool and kindergarten language groups.
“And when we use the smartboard for various speech therapy lessons,” Parker said. “I am grateful to Mr. Anderson for his investment in the future. The staff of Anderson’s was genuine and enthusiastic and it was a fun experience.”
Samantha Sabol, who teaches Pre-K at Lumberton Elementary, came a couple of years ago to get a rug and thought it was super neat.
She will put the rug in your classroom’s Home Living center to make it feel homier for the students rather than them sitting on the tile floor.
“We use rugs all the time for everything,” she said.
Abena Beavers drove from Heidelberg, located about 19 miles above Laurel. This was the first time for the William J Berry Elementary School teacher to get a rug.
“I heard about it from Facebook when a friend tagged me,” she said.
She plans on putting the rug in her classroom’s library area where her students can comfortably sit and read.
Jasmine Dedrick who works at West Point Christian Preschool in Hattiesburg will use her rug where children can sit when they do circle time. “It will help them get comfortable and keep them off the hard floor,” she said.
Amy Clark, who may end up at Mount Olive Elementary, said she had heard about the giveaway for the last two years after the fact. “This year when I started seeing things about it in the spring I went ahead and put a reminder in my calendar,” she said. “I’d always heard about it from other teachers.”
The business also ran a selfie contest, which was won by United Christian Ministries and Academy in Hattiesburg. For their efforts, they won a $100 Office Depot gift card.
By 11:49 a.m. the last of the rugs was gone.
Anderson said although they had been giving rugs to teachers for a number of years, this was really only the second year they’ve done it like this.
He explained that in the past teachers would say they needed carpet remnants for their classrooms and the business would keep some things for them.
“And it just kind of got out of hand a couple of years ago with Facebook posts,” Anderson said. “Facebook is a pretty powerful media. If this is something they need and want to come and get, we’re all for it, but it’s not something we advertise. It’s very gratifying and we got a little better organized this year and in a couple of hours we’ve taken care of a lot of folks.”
“I talked to people from Prentiss, Lucedale, Collins, Jones County and all around.”
“We’re happy to do it because teachers have a hard job. When you’re teaching kindergarten through third grade, which is the grades we focus on, it’s a really hard job, and if something in the classroom helps the children have a better experience, then it’s just a small investment and doing something good.”
Anderson also admits it’s good karma to have a lot of folks from a lot of different places come through your place of business. “Whether they become customers or not, it’s OK,” he said.
The good deed has found its way to Oregon.
Anderson had a businesswoman from just outside Portland email him. “She explained that they had picked up what we were doing to help classroom teachers via Facebook, from a friend of a friend of a friend, who had shared it,” he said. “She wanted to know what we were doing, how we had gotten it and say they were going to do it this year.”
Marketing Director Jennifer Davion, who headed up this year’s project, said they have had other stores reach out to them through the Carpet One co-op.
“You just never know,” said Anderson. “It’s all to try and help a little bit. Hattiesburg is such a generous community. When people are doing local stuff you want to help.”
