Kelsey Snider, a kindergarten-through-fifth-grade art teacher at Highland Park Elementary School in Broken Arrow, has helped bring nearly $20,000 in classroom grants and school supplies to her building after being named one of 10 nationwide winners in a company's third annual teacher-recognition contest. The prize includes 500 reusable water bottles for students, 100 getaway bags for staff, a $1,000 classroom grant for Snider and another $500 toward her personal classroom wish list.
Snider's win came through Oklahoma-founded drinkware company Simple Modern's Stock Your School campaign, which drew more than 175,000 votes from parents, students, families and community members across all 50 states, according to News On 6. Parents, students, PTOs, local businesses and neighbors rallied behind educators in their communities, and the company said schools organized grassroots efforts to encourage voting.
What Highland Park Elementary Is Getting
The 500 water bottles will go directly to Highland Park students, while the 100 getaway bags are earmarked for teachers and staff at the Broken Arrow school. Beyond that schoolwide haul, Snider personally will receive a $1,000 classroom grant plus $500 to fulfill whatever sits on her wish list, per the same outlet's report.
Company Leaders Credit the Community
Simple Modern co-founder Mike Beckham said community support for education benefits both teachers and students, and that the more than 175,000 votes cast represented people coming together to celebrate educators making a lasting impact. He added that seeing entire communities rally behind teachers is encouraging.
Oklahoma's Back-to-Back Presence in the Contest
Snider is one of two Oklahoma educators recognized through the 2026 campaign. The other is Kimberly Smith, a second-grade teacher at Heartland Elementary School in Oklahoma City, according to GlobeNewswire. The 2026 winners represent K-12 teachers across seven states — Oklahoma, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Texas and West Virginia — chosen from thousands of nominated educators nationwide, per Markets Insider.
This marks the second straight year an Oklahoma classroom has landed a winning spot. In the 2025 contest, Carl Albert High School teacher Brianna Jennings of the Mid-Del School District was chosen among that year's 10 national winners after more than 100,000 votes were cast, according to the Mid-Del School District.
The Oklahoma Company Behind the Prizes
Simple Modern launched Stock Your School in 2024 in Oklahoma City as part of its stated mission to support education and give back to communities. Nationwide, the 2026 campaign awarded nearly $200,000 combined across all 10 winning schools, or roughly $20,000 in grants and supplies at each site, GlobeNewswire's release on the contest noted.
The company was founded in Oklahoma in 2015 by Mike Beckham, Bryan Porter and Micah Ames with about $200,000 in starting capital, growing over seven years into a top drinkware supplier to retailers like Target and Amazon and topping $100 million in annual revenue, according to Wikipedia.
A Decade of Giving Tied to Local Manufacturing
Simple Modern donates at least 10% of its annual profits to nonprofits and community causes, committing more than $1.8 million to nearly 75 organizations in 2026 and pushing its lifetime giving past $15 million since its founding, per Simple Modern. That giving spans clean water, education, human trafficking prevention, marginalized communities and homelessness efforts.
The company also has a direct Oklahoma manufacturing footprint, having leased a 175,000-square-foot facility in southeast Oklahoma City in 2022 as part of an initial $5 million investment meant to shift some drinkware production back from overseas, according to the Greater Oklahoma City Economic Development. Following Monday's winner announcement, Simple Modern also offered a 50% sitewide discount to all verified K-12 educators nationwide for two days ending Tuesday, according to a Simple Modern Facebook post.
Highland Park's Growing Campus
Highland Park Elementary was built in 2012 as part of a district bond program and now serves more than 600 pre-K through fifth-grade students in a pod-style layout, according to Boldt Construction. Broken Arrow Public Schools, the district that oversees the school, is one of Oklahoma's largest, enrolling more than 19,000 students across the suburban Tulsa metropolitan area, per the same account.
