Thank you to everyone who entered and to Big Honcho Media for offering such a fun prize. Congratulations to Deb!

Yes, that Deb.

She offered to forfeit and have me choose another winner but I said no.
There were so few qualified entries it wouldn't have been fair to her, but I appreciated the offer.

Gift Idea: Teacher Appreciation (Ziggy Marley iPod giveaway)

There was a conversation on Twitter last week about what to do and what to give for Teacher Appreciation. Teaching is a calling. Actually, I think it's more than that but I just can't think of a word bigger than calling.

I'm a nerd and I really like school. I'm sure that's partly due to some of the great teachers I've had who helped take learning above memorization and recitation and made it engaging and fun.

My Freshman year, our World Studies teacher turned class time into a Jeopardy game. He was also really into classical music and made our knowing composers and individual pieces of music part of class too.

I credit Mr. T (my teacher, not the man from the ATeam) with the fact that I enjoy classical music and he's why I bought all the Baby Einstein music CD's to play for Tyler. I may not remember all the Palestinian Territories anymore, but I remember how awesome it was to come up with the winning mega bonus point answer after a really close round and all the cheering and high fives in our row. I think we may have gotten ice cream too.

Anyway, all this is to say that teachers work HARD to make a positive impression and impact on our kids' lives. For Teacher Appreciation week, gifts that can help teacher's expand on the lessons in their classroom are much needed, especially when budgets and funding are being cut. If that gift will also help a charity benefiting children, more's the better I say, and Ziggy Marley's new CD, Family Time, fits both bills.

Family Time is a CD of children's music and short stories. Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson, Ziggy's daughter Judah and Paul Simon are a few of the artists collaborating on Family Time, and Jamie Lee Curtis voices two short stories, one she wrote and one written by Ziggy.

The music is typical Marley. It makes me want to dance with my son on a white sand beach while we sip from coconuts (mine with a little Jamaican Rum added of course). Proceeds from Family Time go through Ziggy's foundation U.R.G.E to help renovate the Chepstowe Basic School in Port Antonio, Jamaica, which is so badly in need of repairs it is not allowed to be an official part of the school system.


Win It!
One (1) Grand Prize winner will receive the following:
* Copy of ‘Family Time’ CD * 1GB iPod Shuffle

Three (3) runner-up winners receive a copy of Family Time
To enter:
1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me how music is important to your family or what you're doing for Teacher Appreciation - required.

2. I MUST have a way to get in touch with you! I will have to delete comments with no contact info.

3. Comments will close on Monday, June 1st at 11:59pm CA time.

4. I will use random.org to draw the winners and post the results/notify winners via email and in a "Winners" post on Tuesday, June 2nd. The number that appears first in the sequence will be the grand prize winner.

5. US residents only (sorry!)

6. For two extra entries: (not required) Tweet, and/or blog about this contest and leave each of your links in a separate comment (three entry opportunities total). You will need a free Twitter account.

7. You do not have to follow me or subscribe to this blog as a method of entry (but you're more than welcome to!). Tweet as often as you like, but only one Tweet will count as an extra entry. Here's the URL to this post: http://tiny.cc/JEhPp

Good luck! (PS: Comment moderation is on only because this post is older than 25 days. I'm getting each one and will publish them before pulling a winner.)