Wishes for Teachers opens applications for $2,500 classroom grants

By Stacy Mantle
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Arizona teachers can apply for $2,500 classroom grants as the Fiesta Sports Foundation opens applications for its annual Wishes for Teachers program, which will distribute a record $1.75 million during the 2026-27 school year.

The program, now in its 11th year, plans to award grants to 500 K-12 public and charter school teachers across Arizona. Applications are open through Sept. 30.

Teachers can request funding for resources they believe would improve learning in their classrooms. Previous grants have paid for robotics kits, musical instruments, adaptive learning tools, classroom libraries, athletic equipment and other materials.

For Paradise Valley Unified School District art teacher Lakota Mossey, a $2,500 Wishes for Teachers grant provided the equivalent of five years of her annual classroom budget.

Mossey, who teaches art to more than 430 K-6 students at Liberty Elementary School, first received a Wishes for Teachers grant during the 2024-25 school year. She told the Fiesta Sports Foundation that her classroom had gone years without some art materials, including paint sticks, oil pastels and quality paper, requiring her to prioritize recycling supplies.

The award also gave her students a voice in deciding how to spend the money. Mossey had students write down what they wanted for their art room, with requests ranging from more clay and larger paint brushes to materials for virtual field trips.

“I want us to purchase what the kids really want and what would be the most exciting for them so they feel invested,” Mossey said. “Of course, when you get them to feel more invested, they take care of the supplies more.”

Mossey said receiving the grant also provided recognition that can sometimes be missing for educators.

“Sometimes, we as teachers don't feel recognized and it's really put a pep in my step,” she said.

Other local educators have received Wishes for Teachers grants for needs ranging from classroom books and technology to robotics.

Paradise Valley High School teacher Mary Gomez previously received a grant to purchase resources for English-language learners. When she received a $2,500 award in 2023, Gomez said the money would help her provide supplies to students who sometimes arrived without basic materials such as notebooks or folders.

Litchfield Elementary School teacher Michelle Williams was among the 2024-25 recipients. Her wish was to purchase robots for the school's robotics and coding club.

The classroom grants are part of a larger expansion of Wishes for Teachers this year. Fiesta Sports Foundation also plans to award six larger grants directly to Arizona schools. Five schools will receive $50,000 each for campus projects, while one school will receive $250,000.

Combined with the 500 individual teacher grants totaling $1.25 million, the School Wishes bring the Foundation's planned giving through the program to $1.75 million this year.

“One of the reasons Wishes for Teachers is so unique is that we actively listen to educators about what makes the biggest difference in their classrooms and schools and teachers can customize their wishes to help address those needs,” Fiesta Sports Foundation Executive Director and CEO Erik Moses said in a press release.

“This year, alongside our signature $2,500 Teacher Wishes, we're proud to increase our investment in School Wishes, which create an impact felt by entire school communities for years and even decades,” Moses said.

The Fiesta Foundation created Wishes for Teachers in 2016 after recognizing that educators frequently spend their own money on classroom materials and student needs.

Since then, the program has awarded more than $9.7 million to more than 3,100 Arizona educators, according to the Foundation, reaching more than 1 million students. In 2025, grants went to educators in 119 Arizona cities and towns and 142 school districts, reaching more than 276,000 students.

Teacher recipients are selected at random rather than through a competitive judging process. Winners will be notified during the Foundation's Wishes for Teachers Draft Day on Nov. 18. The six School Wishes recipients also will be announced that day.

Arizona K-12 public and charter school teachers can apply through 10 p.m. Sept. 30 at WishesForTeachers.org.

Editor’s note:   A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Stacy Mantle
Education Solutions Reporter

smantle@iniusa.org

Meet Stacy
Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.

Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.

Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!

Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.

Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.