In honor of World Teachers' Day, I’m giving away air purifiers to the classrooms that need them most

Today, October 5, is World Teachers' Day. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established the celebration of World Teacher Day in 1994. It’s celebrated on the 5th of October because it marks the anniversary of the signing of important guidance and criteria regarding teachers’ rights.

This international celebration of teachers seems like the perfect time to share that I'm teaming up with Austin Air Systems to give away air purifiers to classrooms across the country.

When I was growing up my grandparents were big believers in the power of education. Eventually, this rubbed off on me and I started to realize that the phrase “Knowledge is power” isn’t a trite cliché; it’s the truth! That’s why I’m always looking for ways to support students and teachers. Uplifting educators is especially important right now given all the challenges educators have faced over the past few years due to the pandemic.

Clean Air and Classroom Performance

Air quality can have a significant impact on a student’s performance in the classroom. Back in 2016, a study from Annenberg Brown University found that running an air purifier in the classroom to improve air quality, boosted test scores in the same way as reducing the class size by 30 percent. Within just a few months, children’s test results in math and English improved in the same they would if class sizes were reduced.

Results from a more recent study may help explain the connection between air quality and academic performance. Scientists at Columbia University found that early exposure to air pollution affects something known as ‘inhibitory control.” Inhibitory control refers to a person’s ability to override a common response and replace it with a more unusual one.

So, it can help with critical thinking and problem solving. This is a skill we start developing as early as pre-school and it’s a crucial part of a child’s early cognitive development. When a child’s inhibitory control doesn’t develop properly, that student can struggle with spelling, math, and reading comprehension.

How Air Filters Help Fight COVID

Of course, clean air is particularly important now as our world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though children are less likely to suffer serious complications with COVID, they can still pick up the virus at school and bring it home to more vulnerable or immunocompromised family members. Ventilation is key in making classrooms safer. Installing HEPA filtration in classrooms can help give teachers, parents and students peace of mind, while also boosting academic performance.

It seems like there’s a new COVID variant nearly every week, but one thing they all have in common is size. All the variants are about .125 microns in size, which means they’re big enough to trap with a high-quality air purifier.

Research by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has found that air purifiers using a significant combination of HEPA and carbon are the most effective. That’s why I’m proud to partner with Austin Air. Their air purifiers use a combination of both activated carbon and medical grade HEPA technology in its filters, which has been proven to remove up to 99% of all airborne contaminants as small as 0.1 microns.

With an Austin Air purifier, teachers can reduce the number of airborne virus particles circulating in the air of their classrooms, which could reduce how much of the virus students and teachers are exposed to. This could help lessen teachers’ and students’ risk of severe infection too because lowering the viral load in the environment gives the immune system a better chance of fighting the virus.

Why I’m Proud to Partner with Austin Air

Austin Air purifiers are top notch! They have outperformed more than 100 other purifiers in government tests. Also, the purifiers are hand-crafted in the USA and use technology recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Austin Air purifiers’ filters last up to five years before they need to be replaced – which can help your school save money in the long run.

How to Get an Austin Air Purifier for Your School

In honor of World Teachers' Day, I’m hosting a nationwide giveaway for schools. Austin Air and I will be giving away 10 air purifiers.

Fill out this simple application to enter the giveaway.

But if you don’t win, don’t fret. There is federal funding available for schools that want to purchase air purifiers for their classrooms. Schools are using ELC (Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases) funding from the CDC to purchase air purifiers for classrooms. Because of ELC’s Cooperative Agreement, all 50 states can receive direct financial support to detect, respond to, control, and prevent infectious diseases. But the funds need to be used soon.

So, have the superintendent of your school contact your county’s health department or director of purchasing to claim your funds. First, you’ll need to figure out how many purifiers you need and how much they will cost. Austin Air, has an easy form on their website that you can fill out to get all of this information. You can find it here.

To teachers everywhere, thank you!

This year the theme for World Teachers' Day is “The transformation of education begins with teachers.” And I couldn’t agree more. As education strives to recover from all the adversity that the pandemic brought to classrooms across the country and around the world, teachers are in the trenches fighting these battles to lead the youth of our world to transformation and triumph. To all of the teachers out there working day and night to educate, nurture, and empower the future leaders of our world, thank you. This world is a better place because of the work that you do.