Filling up for fallTeachers' Supply Closet cuts down on salary costs to get closer to goal of 'steady stream of supplies' By Diette Courrégé (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Brad Nettles Dorothy Harrison prepares to place a cart-load of donated school supplies out on display Monday at the Teachers' Supply Closet on Sam Rittenberg Boulevard in West Ashley. 
Brad Nettles The Teachers’ Supply Closet For more information on the organization; teacherssupplycloset.org What's neededThe following are the top 10 items needed by the Teachers' Supply Closet. These products were ones that surveyed teachers said they needed most: 1. Ten-pack of washable markers 2. Four-ounce bottles of glue 3. Twenty-four packs of crayons 4. Wide-ruled composition notebooks. 5. No. 2 pencils 6. White copy paper 7. Pink erasers 8. Wide-ruled, 150-sheet filler paper 9. Baby wipes 10. Single-subject wide-ruled notebooks Sanders-Clyde Elementary School teacher Donna Wooten hasn't done the math, but she knows she spends hundreds of dollars each year on supplies for her classroom. She buys just about every item her high-poverty students use, including pencils, crayons, paper and snacks. "The school does the best it can, but we buy a lot," she said. "You're probably going to get me in trouble with my husband!" When the Teachers' Supply Closet opened this past spring and gave her free classroom materials, Wooten said she couldn't have been more grateful. "It was amazing," she said. "Anytime we can get something that I don't have to buy out of my grocery fund is wonderful." The Teachers' Supply Closet is a nonprofit that gives teachers who work with poor students basic supplies. The store allows teachers to "shop" in exchange for a few hours of volunteer time at the West Ashley store. It appears to be the only store of its kind in the state. The store opened for about two months this past school year to six Charleston County elementary schools where more than 95 percent of its students live in poverty. Those schools — Chicora, Dunston, Fraser, Hursey, Mary Ford and Sanders-Clyde — employ about 190 teachers and serve about 2,000 students. The store hopes to give teachers more opportunities this coming school year to shop, said Dorothy Harrison, president of the governing board for the Teachers' Supply Closet. The larger goal is to serve schools in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties where at least 70 percent of its students live in poverty, but the group first needs enough items for six schools, Harrison said. "We want them to be able to come in and get supplies for the entire class," she said. The relatively new nonprofit is trying to establish partnerships and ensure a steady stream of supplies, Harrison said. Teachers haven't been able to take as much as they need, she said. "We're trying to gear up to make sure we have a system in place to replenish supplies," she said. "We don't have a steady stream of supplies." The nonprofit's board has decided to cut down on salary costs by hiring part-time employees for specific projects, such as coordinators for a family-friendly fundraiser, corporate partnerships and store oversight. The store closed for the summer but will reopen the second week of school. Wooten said her school's students need everything from shoes to breakfast to pencils, and the money doesn't go far. The state provides about $275 to teachers, but that will be spent before school begins, she said. Wooten said she looks forward to going to the Teachers' Supply Closet again. "I want them to feel like they're getting everything that every other child gets," she said. "It is such a gift to us to help us help our kids." Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@postandcourier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 18 comment(s)
Posted by My_50Cents_Worth on July 15, 2008 at 8:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
For years I have seen my relatives who are educators spend money, which they are never reimbursed, on school supplies, supplying students with field trip money, lunch money, winter coats etc. Finally, some teachers can get a little financial relief on the things they and their student use most. Great idea and way to shed light on a great program; hopefully donations will soar.
Posted by ironhorse on July 15, 2008 at 9:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Can't the "education" lottery help or are our lawmakers raiding that?
Posted by Early on July 15, 2008 at 10:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My wife teaches at one of these schools and we spend a small fortune on helping these kids out of our grocery money and yet,,, we have schools with 12 smart boards. I have never understood the distribution of funds for CCSD.
They have a building on Calhoun worth millions and yet we have teachers buying school supplies. What a wicked and cruel school system!
Posted by telitlikeitis on July 15, 2008 at 10:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think that this progam is awesome.Its wonderful to see teachers who really care and want to help.My son went to pepperhill elem.and i always sent extra supplies for the same reason.I would send snacks for everyone in the class.Times are hard with gas prices and trying to feed a family of four without assistant.So its good to know the teachers have help cuz i know they dont make that much money themselves.Thanks for all you do teachers!!!!!
Posted by charlestonpride on July 15, 2008 at 11:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The State Dept. gives teachers a check at the beginning of the year for $200 to use for their classrooms or to reimburse themselves. I worked in a school for many years, not as a teacher, and spent a lot of my own money on kids that didn't have items. It takes a community to raise a child!
Posted by eyfigueroa on July 15, 2008 at 12:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Regardless of the societal, governmental or even family ills that plague our government school systems, it is teachers like Ms. Wooten that work to keep our most precious commodities, our children, from falling between 'the cracks'.
Teachers are often maligned, but many of us whose children are in 'successful' fail to recognize the sacrifices made by teachers who work in 'unsuccessful' schools.
Kudos to Ms. Wooten and all like her.
Posted by proud2bme on July 15, 2008 at 1:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
charlestonpride,
it does not take a community to raise a child. It takes devoted mothers and fathers that want to be parents. It takes a school board that knows what they are doing to keep teachers from having to buy the basic school supplies that some students are not able to get for one reason or another.
Posted by Early on July 15, 2008 at 2:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't understand why the school system sees a need for free meals and not school supplies. What is the logic in that?
Posted by charlestonpride on July 15, 2008 at 2:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
proud...that is a community!
Posted by LutherVanderhorst on July 15, 2008 at 3:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Reform the beast that is the school system, and you will have plenty of money.
Until then, her martyrdom will have to suffice.
Posted by proud2bme on July 15, 2008 at 3:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, your community and my community are very different. In my house we are called a family, not a community. My husband and I are the ones raising our children, not the teachers or the neighbors.
It's absurd that teachers have to spend their money on school supplies for children that are not able to do so.
Again, this shows the need for a house cleaning of the Taj Mahal.
Posted by charlestonpride on July 15, 2008 at 3:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
A community is a group with common interests. Your child's teacher, their doctor, their preacher, relatives, etc... That is a community that I am talking about. We are all working together to raise healty, proper upstanding children to be productive adults. I have raised 2 great children that are now great adults, with the help of my community. I have also dug into my pocket to try and help some of the students that I have worked with that didn't have the same support that I gave my children. It might be absurd that teachers do the same, but they care for their students enough to dig into their pockets too.
Posted by mrsmomofthree on July 15, 2008 at 5:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I spend so much money in my classroom. I buy hundreds of pencils, paper, crayons, markers, glue, prizes, and so much more. I love teaching and I would continue to get whatever is needed for my students. The $250 we get at the beginning of the year is just a small dent in the amount we spend on the kids we love.
Posted by hartley8184 on July 15, 2008 at 7:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
No thanks charlestonpride. I don't approve of your model for raising my kids. I notice in your last post you listed all the members of the so-called "community" responsible for raising my kids. Well, did anyone notice that she left out "parents" in the list??? That's amazing. It's this sorry philosophy that is resulting in millions of kids being dumped into a loveless world with no preparation for life, by irresponsible jerks who take ADVANTAGE of the goodness of other people and DUMP their responsibilities on the public. This poor teacher is being USED by these scamming scumbags to pay their freight. Bless her but she is NOT doing the right thing. And, I bet they don't even appreciate it. The least they could do is come over and mow her lawn for her.
I come from a different cultural perspective than you. I don't agree that my children belong to the state. And, I darn sure don't agree that "we're all working together" when it comes to raising children. The way I see it, the government is working AGAINST me and against the concept of family. Sorry, I didn't get to vote on this new concept. So, I refuse to validate it. You're kidding yourself that your model is working. I don't know anybody in the world who would agree that our culture is on the right track.
The traditional model of the family is what all successful cultures are built on. It is what comprises the basic building block of society. This hodgepodge mongrel mess that America prefers is failing and will ultimately doom the nation. I would rather see this country taken over by Muslim fundamentalists than continue on the way it is. And, I am pretty much convinced that's going to happen eventually.
Posted by proud2bme on July 15, 2008 at 9:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
hartley8184,
amen to you!!
I couldn't have said it better!!
Posted by Candyheart29 on July 15, 2008 at 10:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hartley,
While I respect your opinion, and will fight to the death for your right to voice it, you are sadly mistaken on several points.
First, let me say that I feel very sorry for you and the world you apparently live in. This "loveless" society you speak of is made up of people with your mindset. While there are, indeed, some people who abandon their responsibility as parents and productive members of society, I believe these are the exception, not the rule. And even if it were the "rule," the children are blameless. It is teachers like those we speak of today, who will sacrifice their own comfort to provide for children who are not their own, who keep these children from becoming a part of your "loveless" society.
Second, your assertion that "the traditional model of the family is what all successful cultures are built on" is not factual. Many (if not most) successful cultures are actually based on a socialistic framework, much like we have here in America. Is it perfect? No, of course not. Is it better than ANYTHING ELSE out there, YES.
Third, it must be easy for you to view this "hodgepodge mongrel mess" that you describe from the Ivory Tower you apparently live in, or at least think you do. Perhaps you would, indeed, be more comfortable in a country like Afghanistan, where your opinions would not be so well tolerated.
Posted by whome on July 15, 2008 at 11:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"I don't understand why the school system sees a need for free meals and not school supplies."
-----------------------------------
Because the agricultural lobbyists at the federal level have more clout than the school supplies lobbyists. What do you think was in that $300B farm bill.
"Can't the "education" lottery help or are our lawmakers raiding that?"
-----------------------------------
The education lottery is used for college scholarships, even though it costs more to attend now w/ the scholarship than without it. Go figure.
Posted by hartley8184 on July 16, 2008 at 6:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Read your reply Candyheart, and I think you are naive. And I can assure you, I don't live in an ivory tower. We really don't have any common framework to discuss this issue.