OfficeMax Inc. is enabling teachers to earn an extra $500 for their classrooms based on purchases made by students from online back-to-school shopping lists. The Back-to-School Bonus program enables educators who enroll in MaxPerks for Teachers to earn financial rewards from now through Sept. 30, 2007.

Teachers spend an average of $1,400 annually on their own classroom supplies, says Ryan Vero, executive vice president of marketing and chief merchandising officer for OfficeMax, citing data from Adopt-A-Classroom. The not-for-profit organization helps teachers purchase classroom resources.

“Teachers make a substantial financial sacrifice to create meaningful learning environments. We designed our Back-to-School Bonus program to show our ongoing support to help teachers achieve their lesson plan goals and to alleviate some of the financial burden,” Vero says. OfficeMax is No. 6 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.

Teachers can enroll on the MaxPerks web portal via OfficMax.com and set up a supplies shopping list for their students. They then distribute the list to students and their parents by e-mail or by handing out printed copies.

The list will include an ID number that ensures teachers get credit for all qualifying purchases. If teachers don’t want to create a list through the MaxPerks web site, they can still take advantage of the program by issuing students an ID number and earn credit for any purchases the students make.

Teachers can make up to $500 by earning $10 for every $100 of their students’ qualified purchases. In addition, as a MaxPerks member, teachers earn $10 in regular rewards for every $75 they spend on qualified purchases. Rewards are issued in the form of a stored value card.

More than 5,000 teachers have already signed up for the new program, Vero says.