Teacher wins $50,000 classroom makeover in KI Furniture contest

NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — A teacher at Thomas Metcalf School received a $50,000 classroom makeover after winning a vote for the KI Furniture contest.

Andy Goveia, a 7th and 8th-grade social studies teacher, entered the fourth annual contest last fall. The contest had around 550 teachers from around the country. Goveia was one of three finalists in the central region, receiving 23,000 votes from the community.

“To know that 23,000 people took time to vote for me in this community and in Bloomington-Normal, our parents, our students. I'm so grateful that people cared,” Goveia said.

The makeover included new desks, tables, storage and more, fully paid by KI Furniture. Over 100 students visit his classroom each day. The new classroom will make an impact on each of them.

“I think the cool thing about this is there are spaces for everything,” Goveia said. “There are spaces for more traditional work. There are spaces to lounge, spaces to be comfortable, areas for discussion and activity.”

“You can have kids in one space doing something that they're in a totally separate physical setting from something else. That diversity of space allows me to better meet their needs where they're at.”

Goveia is thankful for the makeover, but says that even though it is his classroom, it's more for the kids than anything.

“When you have an opportunity to create a space in a room that speaks to who kids are and lets them see that you care about them, like this room as much as everyone is, like you’re getting a new room. This is theirs,” Goveia said.

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