Tiffany Torno received a surprise gift from Ashton Kutcher on Thursday morning. The Daily NonPareil reports the gift was part of a “surprise philanthropic flash mob,” native Iowa actor and entrepreneur, Kutcher funded for all the classroom projects in Iowa on fundraising website DonorsChoose.org. A total of 131 requests including four from Council Bluffs and one each from Lewis Central, Glenwood, Harlan, Red Oak, Shenandoah and Treynor received funding. In addition, several other southwest Iowa teachers had projects funded by the #BestSchoolDay campaign.

Among them:
• $551.16 for Erin Plagge at 20th Street Elementary School in Denison for 30 headphones for first-graders (along with one previous donor)
• $400.58 for Deborah Fajardo at Northeast Elementary School in Glenwood for 24 chair pockets for kindergartners (fully funded by Kutcher)
• $313.07 for Christine Skog at Harlan Community Intermediate School in Harlan for music books (along with three previous donors)
• $672.25 for Irene Blazek at Missouri Valley Middle School in Missouri Valley for four classroom tables (along with two previous donors)
• $2,150.01 for Amanda Brandon at Riverside High School in Oakland for a concert band bass drum (fully funded by Kutcher)
• $1,979.24 for Michael Moran at Red Oak Middle School in Red Oak for five archery targets (along with nine previous donors, including a match offer by ESPN)
• $734.79 for Sarah Martin at Shenandoah High School in Shenandoah for five Sphero robots (along with two previous donors)
• $194.95 for Shantelle Vohs at Treynor Elementary School in Treynor for book boxes, math activities and games (along with two previous donors)

In a video statement, Kutcher said he grew up as a product of Iowa’s public school system with “teachers who went above and beyond,” who sometimes “cared more about me than themselves.” He said “They inspired me. They made me believe in myself. They probably believed in me more than I believed in myself, and I probably wouldn’t be where I am today without them.” Kutcher, in addition to being an actor, is also a venture capitalist who invested in several technology companies. He dropped out of the University of Iowa, where he studied biochemical engineering, after winning a modeling contest in 1997. Outside of Iowa, Kutcher was among more than 50 athletes, actors, businesspeople and philanthropists Thursday who participated in the #BestSchoolDay effort. More than $14 million was given to fund nearly 12,000 projects nationally.