How to Get Free Classroom Supplies
Rather than reaching deeper into your own pockets, Tamar Snyder at Edutopia suggests following these tips for getting free supplies:
Don’t Buy What’s Free
Look into these strategies for obtaining free materials:
- Recycling. Jennifer Volpe, a speech pathologist at Cobble Hill High School, in Brooklyn, New York, recommends a nonprofit recycling site called Freecycle, where people from all over the world post books, CDs, electronics, and toys they’re giving away. “The only catch is that you have to arrange to pick up the items,” says Volpe.
- Free shopping spree. Teachers at schools in which at least 60 percent of students qualify for free lunch can take part in a monthly shopping spree at resource centers such as A Gift for Teaching, in Orlando, Florida, which gets many of its new supplies donated as surplus from businesses.
- Try a Facebook Group. Join a Facebook Group for your community/region and post a request for the supplies you need.
Put Your Classroom Up For Adoption
Adopt-A-Classroom offers a free, safe online e-wallet account to educators who want to solicit financial support from the community. Teachers can use the money to purchase books, games, and other educational supplies through the online vendors associated with the site.
To sign up, log on to the site, register your classroom, and describe what kinds of supplies you’d like to buy. Then let parents and local businesses know that they can “adopt” your classroom for as little as $25.
Go For The Big Score
OfficeMax, in partnership with Adopt-A-Classroom, hosts the annual A Day Made Better event in October. Last year, the office superstore sent 1,300 teachers each a large box of classroom-supply staples that included scissors, glue sticks, pencils, pens, notebooks, tissues, and even a digital camera.
Teachers who’d like to be considered for A Day Made Better 2009 should have a school principal or fellow teacher nominate them at the official site.
Raise Funds For Supplies
Neeta Garg, owner of the Kumon Math and Reading Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, wanted to help local teachers. So last summer, she organized a school-supplies drive. She sent flyers and emails to parents, and her daughter posted the event on Facebook. In addition to hundreds of donated pencils and notebooks, she collected gloves, coats, and backpacks — all of which she donated to area public schools.
And at Wilmot Elementary School, in Deerfield, Illinois, parent-teacher organization (PTO) fundraisers pay for a lot of supplies. Teachers fill out wish lists of the classroom supplies they’d like, from pencil sharpeners to cooking utensils. The PTO organizes fundraisers throughout the year, including a Market Day, when students and their families can order food from a catalog once a month.
Start A Gift Registry
Gift registries aren’t just for weddings anymore. At DonorsChoose, public school teachers can post online requests for equipment and supplies. Supply Our Schools allows teachers in low-income school districts to register for classroom supplies. Gold Star Registry is yet another site that encourages parents, PTAs, and other community-support organizations to make similar types of donations.
Seek Out A Matchmaker
San Diego businessman Jerry Hall founded iLoveSchools.com to match donors with teachers seeking new or gently used equipment and supplies for their classrooms. Tens of thousands of teachers have signed up, and many have received gifts such as computers and art supplies — even a saxophone with sheet music.
Sell Advertising Space
Tom Farber, an Advanced Placement calculus teacher at San Diego’s Rancho Bernardo High School, made headlines when he asked parents and local businesses to sponsor his exams. “I knew that I had to do something,” said Farber, explaining that if he gave one quiz per chapter to each of his 167 students, he’d spend more than $500 (roughly $3 a student) on photocopies alone.
So Farber began selling a small amount of space at the bottom of each exam. He charges $10 per quiz, $20 for tests, and $30 per final. Most sponsors use motivational quotes, such as this gem: “A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants trees under which he full well knows he will never sit.”
To date, Farber has raised more than $625 — enough to cover a year’s worth of photocopies.
NEA Foundation Grants
The NEA Foundation is a public charity founded by educators for educators to improve public education for all students.
Throughout the year, the NEA Foundation awards over 150 grants to support educators’ efforts to close the achievement gaps, develop creative learning opportunities for students, and enhance their own professional development.
OEA encourages all eligible educational professionals to apply for these grants. There are two primary grant categories open to all public education professionals:
- Student Achievement
- Learning & Leadership
Student Achievement Grants: $5,000
These grants promote classroom innovation and engage students in critical thinking, inquiry, and self-direct learning that deepens knowledge of standards-based subject matter. Approximately 75 awards are announced annually.
Criteria / Proposed learning opportunity should:
- Include specific and measurable goals for student that are rigorous and aligned to state standards
- Include activities that engage students in critical thinking and problem solving
- Align goals, assessment, activities, and budget
Learning & Leadership Grants:
These grants support high-quality professional development opportunities, including, Summer Institutes, action research, collegial study, lesson study, and mentoring. Approximately 75 grants are award annually —$2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for groups.
Criteria /Proposed professional development should:
- Be directly related to a clear and compelling student need, based on data
- Include collegial sharing that is interactive and sustained over time
- Be likely to improve student achievement
- Include a budget that is appropriate to the project goals
Applying for Foundation Grants:
Applicants must be a practicing U.S. public school employee:
- PreK-12 teachers
- Education support professionals
- Higher education faculty and staff
As a grantee, you are expected to:
- Fully implement your proposed plan
- Complete a final report that includes a narrative of your project’s accomplishments and a financial report of expenditures
- Share any materials developed and press clippings collected
- Share your findings with colleagues and others
Applications are accepted throughout the year and are reviewed three times a year, beginning on February 1, June 1, and October 15. The NEA Foundation offers writing tips for grants on its website at www.neafoundation.org. The site also includes brief descriptions of past recipients’ work.
→ Back to the Scholarships, Grants & Awards Home Page
Ohio School Districts Can Receive Funds For Breakfast In The Classroom
COLUMBUS – October 6, 2016 – Beginning today, Ohio school districts can apply for a grant from Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom (the Partners) to provide a much-needed healthy and nutritious morning meal to local students and help increase participation in the federally-funded School Breakfast Program. School districts will be selected based on the number of students that qualify for free or reduced priced meals, the average daily participation in the school breakfast program, as well as district and school-provided support.
The Partners, which is a consortium of national education and nutrition organizations, selected 10 states to participate in the program based on need and the potential for success. They include Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. The goal is to increase access to a morning meal for 30,000 students in the 10 states.
Through a $7.5 million grant from the Walmart Foundation, the Partners will offer a school breakfast to students at no charge and will move it from the cafeteria to the classroom. This is intended to improve participation in the School Breakfast Program and boost learning and health.
While most U.S. schools currently participate in the federal School Breakfast Program, nearly half of low-income children who are eligible for a free or reduced-price breakfast are not eating it, according to a 2015 analysis by the Food Research & Action Center. Barriers include school bus schedules, late arrivals to school, pressure to go directly to class, and reluctance to be labeled “low-income.”
The grants from the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom to help bring healthy morning meals into the classroom would have an invaluable impact on students and we encourage school districts across the state to apply,” said Scott DiMauro, vice-president of the Ohio Education Association. “The proven benefits of moving breakfast from the cafeteria to the classroom include better attendance records, less tardiness, and fewer behavioral and discipline problems. Those benefits are what the students in Ohio deserve.”
Since 2010, 35 school districts in 18 states have been awarded a grant by the Partners to implement the Breakfast in the Classroom programs. This has resulted in more than 63,000 students starting their day off with a healthy breakfast. The Partners’ grant will provide funding to school districts to assist with the upfront costs typically associated with starting a breakfast in the classroom program. That includes assisting schools with the purchase of equipment, marketing and communication needs, staff training, and the hiring of short-term food staff.
For more information and to find out if a district is eligible, visit www.BreakfastintheClassroom.org.
# # #
About Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom
The Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom came together in 2010 in response to their shared passion for childhood nutrition and the potential to improve educational outcomes and child health. The Partners include the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Foundation, the School Nutrition Foundation (SNF), and The NEA Foundation. The Partners provide technical assistance and support to school districts to implement the Breakfast in the Classroom programs. The mission of the Partners is to increase breakfast consumption among schoolchildren and spark the academic and nutritional gains associated with the morning meal through the implementation of Breakfast in the Classroom programs.
The Ohio Education Association (ohea.org) represents 123,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio’s public schools, colleges and universities
Follow OEA @OhioEA on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.
State Superintendent DeMaria responds to a teacher’s letter
Dear Julie:
Thanks so much for your message. First, let me say, I hear you! I sympathize with your frustration and am deeply saddened that we find ourselves in a state where teachers are demoralized and feeling demeaned. Your third paragraph pretty much says it all. And I hear the same thing from many others like you.
I’m committed to changing these perceptions. It starts with my own personal beliefs – that teachers are our most valuable educational asset; that they love and care deeply for the students we place in their classrooms each day; that they are professionals who come to class ready to do their best; that they continually are on the lookout for ways to improve their instruction and student outcomes; and that they have what it takes to make Ohio’s education system the best in the nation. Those of us at the state level should make it our goal to create the conditions needed for teachers to be as effective as they can be. Teaching should be an inspiring and joyful job.
Of course, it’s easy to say words that sound good, but I know you and others want action. I’m working with my staff to identify specific things we can do. One thing I clearly understand is the desire for stability in state policy. Many people are asking us to simply stop changing things. No one is opposed to high expectations, but we need to stick with something for an extended time so we can allow progress to be made. I will do all I can to support this.
I also hear your points about testing. While I believe that state testing is important, I also believe that we need to keep the results of testing in perspective.
Knowing that people like you are out there fuels my continued excitement. I hope I can live up to your expectation to “defend us, encourage us, lead us, advocate for us.” I certainly will try. I hope you continue to do the great things you do for your students – ultimately that’s what matters most.
I wish you a very successful 2016-2017 school year.
Best regards,
Paolo
Paolo DeMaria
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Donald Trump Is ‘Clueless About What Works’ For Students, Public Education
Trump Double-Downs On Failed Education Policies At Failing, For-Profit Charter School
CLEVELAND – September 8, 2016 – With just weeks to go until Election Day, voters have been frustrated with Donald Trump’s failure to provide detailed plans on major issues such as education, the economy and foreign policy. Trump today visited a for-profit charter school in Cleveland to talk education.
“Donald Trump isn’t serious about doing what’s best for our students, and he’s clueless about what works. His silver bullet approach does nothing to help the most-vulnerable students and ignores glaring opportunity gaps while taking away money from public schools to fill private-sector coffers. No matter what you call it, vouchers take dollars away from our public schools to fund private schools at taxpayers’ expense with little to no regard for our students,” said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García.”
“Today we saw Donald Trump desperately throw a bunch of failed education policies against a wall to see if any of them would stick. In contrast, Hillary Clinton believes a child’s chance of success should not depend on living in the right ZIP code. And she is fully committed to supporting educators and to ensuring that they not only we have a partner in the White House but that we also have a seat at the table,” added Eskelsen García.
Decades of research have found that vouchers fail to improve student achievement in any impactful way, do not help the students most in need and ignore the real opportunity gaps that exist in public schools. And the backdrop of a failing for-profit charter school for today’s campaign stop shows just how clueless and out-of-touch Trump is from what kids need to succeed.
“Donald Trump’s campaign has been smoke-and-mirrors with no substance,” said Becky Higgins, a first-grade teacher serving as president of the Ohio Education Association. “Donald Trump has no understanding of what kids need to succeed in school or in life. He’s only concerned with his bottom line.”
A recent study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found that charter schools fail at higher rates than they succeed. On the Ohio state report card, more charter schools received F grades than As, Bs and Cs combined. Last year, more than $500 million in state aid was sent to charter schools that performed the same or worse than the local school district from which students transferred, according to KnowYourCharter.com.
Trump’s lack of a real education plan isn’t the only thing that concerns educators in this highly unusual election. With his divisive campaign, Trump has taken hate mainstream.
“We teach our students to view the president as a role model, but when Donald Trump promotes a campaign built on racism, sexism and xenophobia, he’s no role model I would want for my students or my family,” said Dan Greenberg, a high school English teacher in Sylvania, Ohio. “It doesn’t matter who you are — Democrat, Republican, or Independent — we have to vote our conscious over political party. Donald Trump is not fit to be Commander-in-Chief.”
In the last days of Election 2016, Trump’s attempt to “soften” his tone can’t change how his campaign has been built on racist prejudice and paranoia.
“We’ve seen behavior from Donald Trump that we would never accept in a classroom,” added Eskelsen García who was the 1989 Utah Teacher of the Year before being elected president of the 3 million-member National Education Association. “We teach children to reject prejudice and stereotypes like the ones Donald Trump embraces every time he hurls racial slurs, insults immigrants and women, and talks about banning Muslims from entering our country. We need a president who stands up to bullies — not one who embraces their tactics.”
Follow OEA @OhioEA on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Follow NEA on twitter at @NEAmedia
Keep up with the conversation at #StrongPublicSchools
###
The Ohio Education Association (ohea.org) represents 122,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio’s public schools, colleges and universities
The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers. Learn more at www.nea.org.
OEA Member Resource Guide 2016
Use this guide as an overview to help you make the most of your OEA Membership. Within, you’ll learn more about:
- Ways to Become Involved
- Fighting for Public Education
- OEA Staff, Leadership, and Board of Directors
- OEA Higher Education Benefit
- Awards and Scholarships
- Valuable NEA Member Benefits and Services
Throughout our more than 150-year history, OEA members have been involved in every struggle and effort to advance the finest of America’s dreams: a quality public education for every child.
If you have additional questions, contact us at 1-844-OEA-Info (1-844-632-4636) or send us an email to: membership@ohea.org.
Moved recently? Contact the OEA Member Hotline to update the address on file at 1-844-OEA-Info (1-844-632-4636) or email, membership@ohea.org. Representatives are available Monday-Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. | OhioSchools — Past Issues
Oh Yes, We’re Social — Join the Conversation!
Categories
Communications and Community EngagementEducation Support Professional
Higher Education Faculty
Higher Education Staff
Leadership Tools and Documents
Legal Issues
Legislative Issues and Political Action
Licensure and Certification
Local Leader
Membership
New Teacher
OEA Member
Ohio Schools Magazine
preK-12 Teacher
Representative Assembly
Retired Member
Scholarships and Awards
Student Member
September 2016 Ohio Schools
- IN THIS ISSUE
- Leaders, Advocates & Educators: OEA members demonstrate their power to take action on issues that matter to their students and their profession
- Fanfare for the Common Man
- 2015-2016 Ohio teacher salaries
- Shutting Down the School to Prison Pipeline
Moved recently? Contact the OEA Member Hotline to update the address on file at 1-844-OEA-Info (1-844-632-4636) or email, membership@ohea.org. Representatives are available Monday-Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. | OhioSchools — Past Issues
Oh Yes, We’re Social — Join the Conversation!
June 2016 Ohio Schools
- IN THIS ISSUE
- Celebrating School – Award-winning artwork for Create a Cover contest highlights what students like most about school
- Celebrating the joy of reading
- President’s Message – Here’s how we win: Connect with our members and allies, stand up, and take the lead by acting decisively and confidently
Moved recently? Contact the OEA Member Hotline to update the address on file at 1-844-OEA-Info (1-844-632-4636) or email, membership@ohea.org. Representatives are available Monday-Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. | OhioSchools — Past Issues
Oh Yes, We’re Social — Join the Conversation!
Ohio teacher Gina Daniels goes to Washington to demand vote on Supreme Court nominee
Gina Daniels: Senate needs to put students and constitution ahead of partisan politics
WASHINGTON – May 18, 2016 – Nine civics, history, and social studies teachers, including Gina Daniels from Licking Heights School District, went to Washington today to demand that Senators do their job and hold a hearing and vote on President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Chief Judge Merrick Garland. They joined a White House roundtable with senior Obama administration officials to discuss the confirmation process and how educators teach their students about the Supreme Court and its role in our national government.“Senate leaders are sending the wrong message to our students by failing to do their job and hold a hearing and a vote on a highly qualified Supreme Court nominee, Chief Judge Merrick Garland,” said Ohio Education Association President Becky Higgins. “It’s our job to teach our students lessons about the importance of the U.S. Constitution but apparently some Senators, like Rob Portman, need a lesson as well. That’s why these civics, history and social studies teachers from across the country came to Washington to tell Senate Republicans to stop playing political games. It’s time for elected officials to put their constitutional duty ahead of partisan politics.”
“Senator Portman should just do his job, and take action on a Supreme Court nomination,” said Gina Daniels, a history teacher in Licking Heights. “It would be like me refusing to teach the Revolutionary War to my students. That’s unacceptable.”
Keep up with the conversation at #WeNeedNine #DoYourJob
Follow OEA @OhioEA on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.
###
The Ohio Education Association (ohea.org) represents 123,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio’s public schools, colleges and universities
Ohio Education Association Re-Elects President And Vice President
COLUMBUS – May 16, 2016 – Members of the Ohio Education Association, the state’s largest public employee union, have re-elected Becky Higgins to a second three-year term as President, and Scott DiMauro to a second three-year term as Vice President. OEA represents 123,000 teachers, education support professionals and higher education faculty.
Higgins ran unopposed and was re-elected by acclamation at the OEA’s Representative Assembly (RA), the governing body of the organization, over the past weekend. Nearly 1,000 member delegates from OEA local affiliates throughout Ohio participated in the RA.Higgins will begin her new term on September 1, 2016. An active OEA member throughout her career, Higgins was a first-grade teacher for the Copley-Fairlawn Schools before being elected OEA’s president in 2013.
OEA Vice President Scott DiMauro also ran unopposed and was re-elected by acclamation. Prior to his election as vice-president, DiMauro was a social studies teacher at Worthington Kilbourne High School.
Follow OEA @OhioEA on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.
###
The Ohio Education Association (ohea.org) represents 122,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio’s public schools, colleges and universities