Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl's 'Wishes for Teachers' grants thousands of dollars to Arizona teachers

Wishes are coming true for hundreds of teachers across Arizona as the Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl "Wishes for Teachers" program hands out $2,500 grants to 400 teachers.

PHOENIX - Wishes are coming true for hundreds of teachers across Arizona as the Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl "Wishes for Teachers" program is handing out $2,500 grants to 400 teachers.

On Nov. 3, Red Mountain High School teacher and coach, Mark Peterson, learned his wish was going to be granted for a locker room makeover.

Peterson has been teaching for 25 years.

"Get some acoustic tiles and maybe update the lockers, get a fresh coat of paint, we're cardinal red," he said, explaining what he wants to use the money toward.

He also hopes to add more lockers and to paint motivational quotes along the walls and tiles.

More than 200 athletes use this locker room.

"They spend a lot of time here. Some of us spend more time here than we do at home. We kind of want it to be a great place, to be kind of a second home," Peterson said.

Hundreds of other K-12 teachers across the state are also getting their wishes granted.

"It's everything from furniture to Chromebooks, to sensory tools. The wishes are all across the board," said Cathy Graham with the Desert Financial Credit Union.

The recipients are chosen by random drawings.

"The work that the teachers do is so important and they're often paying for things out of their own pockets. They're just really the heart and soul of the Valley," Graham said.

Desert Financial Credit Union and the Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl is awarding $1 million worth of wishes for Arizona teachers in 2021.

More information about the program can be found here.