How a Former Test Question Sparked $30,000 in Rewards for This Teacher, Her Schools, and a Charity

Last Updated: March 6, 2019July 26, 2024 — 2 min read

ST. PETERSBURG Fla. March 6, 2019 — Donelan Andrews has been a teacher for 25 years. With a consumer economics background, she always reads every contract when she buys something, and teaches her students to do the same. When Donelan bought a travel insurance policy from Squaremouth, little did she know she’d entered into a top-secret contest where her passion for reading would pay off to the tune of $30,000.

Squaremouth launched the Pays to Read contest on February 11, 2019, with the aim of highlighting the importance of reading policy documents by rewarding the first person to find hidden text in their policy documentation within a year’s time. Whether a winner was named or not, Squaremouth planned to donate an additional $10,000 to Reading Is Fundamental, a children’s literacy charity. Much to Squaremouth’s surprise, Donelan claimed the prize in just 23 hours.

How She Won

To find the contest winner, Squaremouth hid the contest details on the last page of its policy documentation, explaining that the first person to read through their policy and discover the contest would win the $10,000 grand prize.

When Donelan reached the hidden text, the following sentence caught her eye: “If you’ve read this far, then you are one of the very few Tin Leg customers to review all of their policy documentation.” It reminded her of a test question she used to ask students to teach them the importance of reading.

“I used to put a question like that midway through my exams, saying ‘If you’re reading this, skip the next question.’ Right when I saw the wording, it reminded me of that and intrigued me to keep reading,” she says.

Her Commitment to Her Schools

To honor Donelan’s commitment to her schools, Squaremouth gave an additional $5,000 to each of the schools where she teaches in Georgia – Upson-Lee High School and Lamar County High School. The money will be used to buy new textbooks and contribute to each of the school’s work-based learning programs.

“When we contacted Donelan to tell her she had won, her dedication to reading and teaching stood out immediately,” says Squaremouth CEO Chris Harvey. “Her enthusiasm inspired us to make additional donations.”

Why We Chose Reading is Fundamental

The purpose of Pays to Read is to highlight the importance of reading all policy documents. Because of that goal, Squaremouth wanted to donate an additional $10,000 to a reading charity, in addition to the grand prize. Squaremouth chose Reading Is Fundamental because their mission aligns with the objective for Pays to Read.

Reading Is Fundamental is the largest nonprofit organization for children’s literacy in the U.S. They’ve provided more than 415 million books and literacy resources to kids across the country, inspiring generations to read.

More information on Squaremouth’s Pays to Read campaign can be found on https://www.squaremouth.com/campaign/pays-to-read

Want to speak with us? Please contact our Pays to Read team at (727) 260-5012. We are available Monday through Friday, from 8am to 4pm ET.