Updates & Insights

Alpaca educators received a pack full of goodies to spark inspiration and bring some color to their spaces! Let’s take a peek! 

Mrs. Moore is well known for the fun she has in her classroom and seems to have "found her calling" in teaching. “If I didn’t have to make money to live, I would volunteer my time to teaching, I love it so much,” she says.

So how does someone starting a brand new school accomplish an engaged, aligned team? For Susan Toohey, it started by bringing everyone around one table to create a school together.

Starting out as a first-year teacher can be overwhelming, but when you start at a school with a built-in support system of fellow educators, it makes all the difference.

If you’ve volunteered (or been “voluntold!”) for your school’s parent group this year, and you’re wondering how to make this year’s meetings productive and fun, you’re not alone. Parent groups are absolutely critical to teacher and school support, and as a group, you have an opportunity to positively impact your teachers’ wellbeing. 

A second grade teacher taught the Alpaca team the most important question we ask at our weekly staff meeting.

It’s the best and busiest time of the year at Alpaca - back to school season! The back to school pack is the biggest pack of the year and we are thrilled to have so many new schools and districts on board to kick off the 2023-2024 school year!

This is the brilliant work that doesn’t show up on a teacher’s job description.This is the innovation that we don’t hear about in news articles about teachers and schools.This is the untold work of a teacher who found an incredible way to get kids talking.

When companies who are working for positive impact come together, it’s amazing what can happen. We’re so excited to tell you about Alpaca’s new partnership with Vidday - an absolutely delightful video platform that’s here to spread positivity in the world.

Have you seen Omaha’s brand new science museum Kiewit Luminarium? We are beyond excited for the opportunities this innovative museum offers students, families and educators, so we couldn’t think of a better partner for our April pack!

This spring, Alpaca proudly partners with Kiewit Luminarium in an awesome collaboration that delivers a co-designed pack dedicated to curiosity, exploration and wonder in addition to a special Educator Night celebrating teachers at Alpaca schools.

The team at Fusion Medical Staffing made a great day of a recent team-building experience, joining Alpaca to create and deliver packs of gear, goodies, and gratitude to teachers at Holy Name, All Saints, and Sacred Heart.

Alpaca can be used to create a fun, inspiring, and joyful experience that improves morale for teachers. From making pack delivery a student incentive to involving parent volunteers in surprising your teachers - our principals have shared some amazing ideas for how to delight teachers with their monthly pack!

If you’re wondering how to help a teacher throughout the year, here’s the list of what we need, and how often we need it, straight from the source!

We know Crayola is the #1 favorite brand of Alpaca teachers, so we asked our friends at Crayola to help us create a fantastic pack for March. Check it out!

In February, Alpaca was proud to partner with Clean Slate Food Co, a meal delivery service and new Millwork Commons neighbor here in Omaha. Our pack included incredible snacks, treats, and a reusable lunch container for teachers. It was a hit!

Thank you to Jonah Gilmore from KETV NewsWatch 7 for covering our story, mission, and this exciting delivery day to one of our new Alpaca schools, Kellom Elementary!

Telling the stories of parents and community members supporting teachers through Alpaca is one of our favorite things and we love to welcome new friends to our space! WOWT joined Alpaca for a recent packout - check it out!

May was an exciting month at Alpaca! It marked the opening of Alpaca’s new office in Millwork Commons, new additions to the team (yay!), the launch of our new website, blog, and social media pages, and our first teacher appreciation party where 40+ teachers shopped our “supply bar” and celebrated the end of the school year.

Summer break may be in full swing for teachers, principals, students, and parents but the Alpaca team was busy getting ready (and getting extra excited) for our very first back to school season!

10,000 packs delivered. $284,500 back in teachers pockets. 10,500 thank you notes written. A new team, a new office, and thousands of parents supporting teachers! See how we did against our company's commitments in our first ever impact report.

This month’s featured teacher is Leigh Dunn from Willowdale Elementary School in Omaha, Nebraska. Ms. Dunn is known for her creativity in the classroom, so the October pack was a home run for her class!

If you have five minutes today, you have time to support your teacher. And best of all, it’s free.

We are thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Omaha Public Schools district! Support from Omaha Public Schools will ensure that Alpaca packs get to every single OPS elementary teacher this year. We are grateful to work with Nebraska's largest school district!

Alpaca is kicking off the new school year with BIG news: 20 incredible schools (and 700 extraordinary teachers), a program to match every parent subscription 1 for 1, and the awesome things parents are doing to bring Alpaca to their schools.

Over time and as our team formed, we’ve solidified the promises we are making, as a team, as we grow Alpaca. Here’s what we’re promising our customers, our teachers, our investors, and each other.

For this year’s Holiday Gift Pack, we partnered with some truly incredible brands who are excited to support teachers with some beautiful gifts. Each pack will have unique styles, colors, and exact offerings, but every pack has the same value (more than $45 of stuff!) and each will delight your teacher.

Happy September, Alpaca friends! Now that school is back in full swing around Omaha, the Alpaca team is as busy as we can be – new schools, new packs, new partners – read all about it!

One year ago today, I officially launched Alpaca. We built 27 packs of supplies and appreciation for teachers at one Omaha school. They were paid for by me and my parent friends (our kids go to that school), and the whole thing was still called a "project."

No mugs, no apples. Why? Because your teachers are so much more than those cute school themes might suggest. Want the real list, from real teachers? Here are the 10 holiday gift ideas that make teachers feel like respected, appreciated professionals. From Alpaca contributing educator Leigh Dunn.

In September, Alpaca set off on our very first company retreat. On Amtrak. For 38 hours. For 1,400 miles from Omaha, Nebraska to Truckee, California.

Bright, colorful, and filled with JOY -- our March packs brought some color into the cold of winter here in Omaha, Nebraska. The best part: they were curated by two amazing art teachers right here in Omaha!

140 teachers at 5 schools received a pack of well-organized and delightful supplies to head back outside as the weather warms up!

Check out the lovely teacher appreciation treats we delivered to 3 schools (67 teachers!) in February!

We kicked off the school year with our biggest pack of the year! From prize boxes to delight students to gorgeous pens; everyone's favorite Astrobrights papers to essential classroom cleaning and wellness supplies -- this pack has a little bit of everything. And teachers LOVED it. See what they got!

In time for the last month of school, teachers can start looking forward to a reflective summer with journaling supplies, poetry, and everyone's favorite: ice cream!

In our very first packs, Alpaca welcomed back Washington Elementary's 27 teachers from the holiday break with a refresh of classroom necessities.

One of our favorite things at Alpaca is hearing the incredibly creative ways teachers solve problems, make great (and innovative) use of resources, and reach kids! Thanks to the amazing Alpaca supporters, parent subscribers, and district partners, our teachers got a GREAT pack this month. Check it out!

Teachers hold our communities together in extraordinary ways - here's how we celebrated them in September! This month, we delighted 800+ teachers with all the things they use to organize and decorate their classrooms!

If you’re looking for the perfect gift for your teacher, we’ve got your back. We survey every teacher we work with to hear about what supplies they love the most, what they don’t need, what they spend their own money on, and what brands they choose!

From Flatwater Free Press: Colored paper, coats and cookies: Teachers dip into own pockets to supply classrooms, aid students