Local Teacher Appears on "Ellen" After Making Generous Donation

A Dorchester teacher was a guest on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” Monday after donating contest winnings to her school.

Boston Magazine reported that Nicole Bollerman, who won $150,000 in a Capital One contest, donated her winnings to UP Academy Dorchester in December. The 26-year-old is a third-grade teacher at the school and received national recognition for her decision.

UP Academy, formerly known as Marshall Elementary, was noted as one of six underperforming area schools earlier in the 2014-2015 academic year, according to the Boston Globe.

UP Academy is a private education company that operates four other schools in Massachusetts. It was brought in last year to take over Marshall as an in-district charter school. The entire administration and faculty were replaced and Bollerman was one of the new teachers ushered in.

“So many of our students are just not set up for college and lifelong success,” Bollerman said in a video released by Capital One via their official YouTube channel. “My #WishForOthers was that my third graders all take a book home for winter break. I really just wanted them to have books of their own that they could take care of and treat and share with their families.”

The UP Academy, thanks to the “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” was provided with additional gifts:

• Backpacks filled with school supplies for every student.
• $100 Target gift cards for every student.
• $500 Target gift cards for every UP teacher.

Bollerman received a check for $25,000, which was presented in a fish tank full of Skittles.

Watch the aforementioned Capital One video below:

Image via Shutterstock.