Teachers Check Off Supply Lists As School Begins

As parents rush from store to store crossing items off of school supply shopping lists, teachers are readying classrooms for their children and crossing off supply lists of their own.

In addition to items such as paper, pencils, glue and crayons, teachers stock their classrooms with books, charts and floor mats.

DeDe Scott, a first grade teacher at Mossy Creek Elementary School, estimated she spends about $500 on school supplies, in addition to the $250 subsidy from the Aiken County School District and $100 from the Parent-Teacher Organization. She also stocks up on regular supplies such as paper and pencils.

“Every year I try to buy one chart for myself, because they’re so expensive,” she said.

Scott, who will begin her sixth year teaching next week, said she is always on the lookout for things that will enhance her classroom, and for Christmas will ask her family for children’s books.

“I don’t want stuff for myself,” she said. “I want stuff for my room.”

The amount of items and money needed could be overwhelming for a new teacher, Scott said.

“I know (that for) somebody (new), when you first walk in you feel like, ‘Wow, what have I gotten myself into,’ ” she said.

Usually, teachers help each other by swapping or giving away items they no longer need.

“It’s just crazy how quick you accumulate stuff,” Scott said.

At Hammond Hill Elementary School, teachers put items they no longer need out into the hall for other teachers to pick up.

Ginger Pope, a first year teacher at Hammond Hill, is only too happy to rummage for items to fill her fourth-grade portable classroom.

“I didn’t think it would be as basically stripped as the portable was,” she said.

She taught 4-year-old Pre-K at a private school, was a substitute teacher for Aiken County and has a sister who is also a teacher, so stepping into an empty classroom the first time wasn’t a huge shock.

Still, she faced a big room that needed setting up and decorating.

“It was a shock when I went into my room Monday morning and there was a computer on the floor,” said she said.

In addition to buying the usual pencils, paper and crayons, she found herself also buying a desk chair and a refrigerator.

She bought the chair because she figured if she needed one, she would get one that would be comfortable for working at the computer after the children go home.

She bought the refrigerator because the classroom has no running water.

Pope said she will likely let her students keep water bottles at their desk. The class will make several trips to the main building throughout the day, and each trip will include a restroom break.

Pope estimated she has spent about $250 so far on school and organizational supplies. She hopes next year she won’t have to spend so much.

Both teachers said it’s worth the price they pay to make sure their classrooms are warm, inviting and conducive to learning.

It’s also worth it to make sure they have extra supplies on hand for the children whose families struggle to provide them.

Scott said every year, she has at least one child in that situation, and they appreciate getting the extra supplies.

“It’s almost like Christmas to them,” she said. “It’s worth it to me if I have to empty my bank account to see that big smile on somebody’s face.”

Reach Lisa Kaylor at

lisa.kaylor@northaugustatoday.com.

Originally published by Lisa Kaylor Staff Writer.

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