When I first started teaching public school way back in the late 20th century, I was determined that I wasn’t going to spend my own money on my classroom, nor was I going to provide school supplies for my students.
I knew a lot of teachers who did, and I thought they were suckers.
After all, parents should make sure their children have supplies. And besides, I have children of my own. Why should I have to buy thing one for someone else’s kid?
This stance, alas, left me with a choice: let Johnny sit with idle hands and learn nothing or give him the basic toolkit of pencil, paper, and notebook in the hope that he might learn enough one day to buy some loose leaf, a Trapper Keeper, and some Bics for his own kids.
I buy composition books by the crate now. I try to do it during the tax-free holiday before school.
Call me a sucker if you must, but believe me when I tell you that my motives are not entirely selfless. My mother always said that idle hands are the Devil’s workshop, and a bored fifth grader is like an evil Bob Vila on crack.
Why am I telling you all this. Well…
Here’s something they’re doing in Greensboro: a teaching supply warehouse. Should we have one here in Vance? Would it help?
Let us know on today’s open line.