Teacher Supply Warehouse Eases Out-Of-Pocket Expenses

Summer has wound down, and it's already time to pack the lunch, grab the bus, and make sure all the school supplies are ready to go as students head back to the classroom.

But students aren't the only ones who have been stocking up in preparation. A local nonprofit in Guilford County is making sure teachers have what they need to be successful educators.

Tahjma VanBuren opens the door of the loading dock behind the Teacher Supply Warehouse in Greensboro. VanBuren is the program and volunteer manager here, and she's meeting Jean Young, who's donating a load of school supplies.

“It looks like she brought a whole bunch of new stuff, which is really good," she says. "Some clipboards, some Crayola crayons, post-it notes, two-pocket folders."

The items are leftover from a drive that Young's church held recently. And it's donations like these — from individuals, nonprofits, and businesses — that keep the supply warehouse going. This is where Guilford County public school teachers can come to shop for their classrooms – free of charge.

At the front of the building, teacher Carol Coke explores a wall of cubbies filled to the brim with colorful folders and bright neon markers.

“We spend so much of our own money out of pocket, so for years I would go out and buy everything," she says. "And then you come here and it's like, 'I didn't have to buy those notebooks or folders or things.' They're all right here!” 

According to the Economic Policy Institute, North Carolina teachers spend on average $400 of their own money on school supplies each year. But for Coke, as a special education teacher, that number is closer to $1,500.

She says it costs a lot to adapt the curriculum to meet her students' needs.

“If we want to do science experiments or cooking lessons, or things to make math relevant to our kids, you know, you're buying groceries or materials to do the lesson,” Coke says.

The warehouse is open year-round, and teachers can shop up to once a quarter.

In addition to new supplies, there's a whole section of gently used items, quirkier things like old adding machines, fabric scraps, fake coconut shells, and bins full of various trinkets and kids' meal toys.

“These are prize box items that teachers use, stickers, games,” says Karen Hornfeck with Guilford Education Alliance, the independent nonprofit that runs the warehouse.

“We tell folks to clean out their closets. As your children grow older and you've got things that we all forget about, we can use them. ... This is where teachers who are used to doing a lot with a little can really do some amazing things.”

The warehouse has been open a little over ten years, and throughout a school year, they'll see about 3,000 educators come through. It draws veteran teachers, but also first-time teachers like Kaitlyn Klinger.

“Looking at a lot of the other teachers around me, their rooms are beautiful. They have all the stuff they've accumulated. So starting fresh is a little bit daunting,” she says.  

Klinger says she's had help from friends and family in getting ready to teach, but she's also spent around $200 of her own money and is planning to spend another $100 once she's a bit into the school year and has a better idea of what she needs.

“I want my space to be a really inviting space for my students, especially for the little first-grade kiddos. I want them to come into my classroom and be like, 'Oh, wow!' And I want the parents to feel like that too because I want them to know that their students are in a place that they love and that they feel happy in.”

Klinger's enthusiasm for her job is written on her face, and now that she has the supplies she needs, she can focus on putting that energy into the new school year.