This post has been sponsored by Staples, Inc. to share how we can support public education and help teachers! All opinions are 100% our own.
In 2006, I was a freshly graduated University of North Texas student with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (focusing on Early Childhood -4th grade). I was newly married. We were saving for our first home, and I’d received my first job offer as a 4th grade teacher in a well-known school district north of Dallas. While I thought my life had instantly become “real”, the true realities of being an “adult” didn’t kick in until July before my first year of teaching began.
I walked into my hot, hot classroom (because A/C cost the district money!) to blank walls, broken staplers, and zero books. Over the next month I would easily spend over $300 just to get my classroom ready and make it more comfortable for those little minds I’d be molding. Not to mention all the organizational items I needed to make the classroom function.
While I wish I could tell you that this was an investment that would last throughout the 4 years I stayed a teacher, that just wouldn’t be true. Once school began, there were students who couldn’t afford binders or folders. Scissors were constantly being broken. Classroom modifications had to be made in order to make learning a little easier for some students. We provided fun rewards and incentives for a job well done. The spending never seemed to stop…and unfortunately, there wasn’t a departmental budget for any of it.
My total stipend I was allotted was $100 per semester IF the items being purchased were math or science related — since the kits they required us to use for various themes would usually require a large amount of disposable items.
I consider myself lucky. I had a PTA that would step up and help in small ways, and my husband and I were able to etch a small amount into our personal budget to cover these types of expenses. Many teachers aren’t as fortunate.
Teachers in Title 1 schools in poorer districts may have to fund their classrooms 100%. They may also not have the supplies to support the basic educational needs of students. Any extra activities such as field trips might have to be 100% funded outside of the school which means they may never happen.
Staples & Katy Perry Want To Help
On June 23, Staples announced that they are partnering with DonorsChoose.org to encourage the public to help teachers in the classroom by making a donation to StaplesForStudents.org.
To kick it off this campaign and help raise awareness for the cause, Staples has made a $1,000,000 donation to DonorsChoose.org!
But it gets better, Staples has also teamed up with Katy Perry on this campaign!
“When I teamed up with Staples in 2014, I learned firsthand how desperately teachers need our support – many of them even dig into their own pockets to provide simple tools that we would expect to already be available in our classrooms. So when Staples approached me again this year, I jumped at the opportunity because I saw the lasting effect our collaboration had on DonorsChoose.org and thousands of teachers and students.” ~Katy Perry
Beginning June 26-September 10, 2016, if you spend $25 or more in any Staples store, you’ll receive a unique entry code on your receipt to enter to win a $50,000 scholarship GRAND PRIZE plus a trip for two to Los Angeles to meet Katy Perry in person!
In addition, four 1st prize winners will win air travel to Los Angeles (with a guest!) for 2 nights and spending money to meet Katy Perry at the VIP Winners Celebration.
How You Can Help
Just like Staples, I encourage you to make a donation to StaplesForStudents.org and find a project that speaks to you.
Through this awesome website, YOU can choose the classroom, teacher, or project you want to help fund. A teacher or school sets up a project and identifies the materials they need to help provide a better learning environment and request donations to their project. Projects that need funding might help a school for the bind & deaf receive storybooks or a classroom in Wichita Falls, Texas purchase wobble balls to help keep kids focused and moving. Once their goal is met, those items are purchased! There’s no wondering what your donation went towards. You see directly how your donation benefited a teacher, school, and their students.
Learn more about how Staples’s partnership with Katy Perry and how they’re making a difference in classrooms and by visiting StaplesForStudents.org!
