She’s helping real-life teachers!
Quinta Brunson used marketing money from her new show, “Abbott Elementary” to buy school supplies for teachers, Today.com reports.
Brunson is the creator and star of “Abbott Elementary,” a new ABC situational comedy that shines a light on what public school teachers really go through. Centered in her hometown of Philadelphia and inspired by her mother and real-life educators, the show has become a big hit with viewers everywhere, making history as the first ABC comedy to quadruple its ratings since its original debut.
Since then, Brunson has been lauded for her work, receiving honors from the Philadelphia City Council and being named one of ESSENCE’s 2022 Black Women in Hollywood honorees. The comedian has been very transparent about her reasoning for making her first show about public school teachers, highlighting the inequities inner city teachers face and making a call for increased funding for educators.
“I think all the funding that goes to everything else should equally go to our schools… I just don’t understand why it doesn’t. The fact that teachers need anything, the fact that wish lists exist. I get it. It’s cute. But I’m just like teachers should never want for anything. It’s a public service. Who are we without teachers,” Brunson previously told reporters.
Recently, Brunson decided to put her money where her mouth is, partnering with Good Morning America to surprise one Philadelphia elementary teacher and her school, giving away $20,000 worth of books for the students courtesy of Scholastic, $40,000 from Wells Fargo for the school to use as they see fit, and a truckload of school supplies from Staples. Brunson said it felt fantastic to utilize her platform and her show to do good. But in a recent interview with NPR’s “Fresh Air,” Brunson revealed that she and her team aren’t stopping there, utilizing as many resources as possible to get school supplies to even more teachers in need.
“We chose to put the marketing money toward supplies for teachers,” Brunson explained.
That’s right, part of the marketing budget for the hit series is going towards helping educators purchase school supplies. Reflecting on her mom’s 40-year career as a teacher, Brunson hopes to be to these teachers what her mom probably needed back then.
“Despite it getting harder, despite teachers not having all the support they need, despite kids growing even more unruly than they’ve been in recent time…she still loved the job…The beauty is someone being so resilient for a job that is so underpaid and so under-appreciated because it makes them feel fulfilled,” said Brunson.
While it may seem like a grand gesture for some, Brunson thinks it’s just the right thing to do and is grateful to ABC and the production team for being on board.
“It’s about being able to make those kinds of decisions that really excite me, things that can really materially help people,” she said.
“Abbott Elementary” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m .on ABC. All episodes are available to stream on Hulu.
Thank you for all you’re doing, Quinta!
Photo Courtesy of Gilles Mingasson/ABC/Los Angeles Times