During the 2012 school year, educators spent nearly $1.6 billion of their own money on classroom supplies. That is approximately $500 per teacher, per year, a steep amount for a profession that doesn’t pay as it should.
To stop this from happening, and to ensure that each classroom can be fitted with the tools they need for children to continue learning, one initiative has set up shop – but with a difference.
Project Teacher is a grass roots initiative that was formed on a simple idea: “teachers need tools to teach, and students need supplies to learn.”
The ‘shop’ was set up to provide teachers with a way to equip their classrooms, not just for the start of term, but the whole year through.
Run by donations from corporations, individuals and local fundraisers, the shop is a treasure trove of school-supplies that offer everything from dominoes to white out.
At the moment, the program runs in Wichita, U.S.A, and allows for teachers to make an appointment to come into the ‘store’ and select everything they need for their classrooms.
School supplies, Terry Johnson, director of Project Teacher, says, are so individually tailored by school, grade, and teacher, that it makes the most sense to put resources directly in the hands of educators.
This means that teachers can bypass the usual ‘one size fits all’ donation lists and get exactly what they need for their particular students.
“If we can equip teachers to enjoy their job, so that they’re excited about it, that rubs off on the students. It gives us an opportunity to really change the community, ” said Terry.
Would you like to see this initiative in your local community?
