How to Get Complimentary Teaching Materials
Educators share tips for stocking up on free classroom supplies.
by Tamar Snyder
Credit: Klaus Larsen
In this tough economy, funding for classroom supplies is growing increasingly scarce. Even in good times, K-12 public school teachers can easily dole out $500-$1,000 of their own money a year for supplies. But as school budgets continue to tighten, that figure could escalate, says James Rosenberg, executive director of Adopt-A-Classroom, which has raised $10 million for supplies for 20,000 classrooms in all 50 states during the past decade.
Rather than reaching deeper into their own pockets, creative educators suggest, follow these grassroots tips for getting free supplies:
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.
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 listserv. Join a Yahoo listserv in your community 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.
Tamar Snyder is an Edutopia contributor in New York City.
This article was also published in the September 2009 issue of Edutopia magazine as "Fabulous Freebies".
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i work in a self contained classroom with autistic students at a private school we are always looking for new ways to teach and save some money at the same time any great ideas would be of help
how can I get free school supplies
MY CHURCH IS OPENING UP A CHARTER SCHOOL, THE LORD HAS TRUELY BLESSED US TO WERE WE CAN HELP THE CHILDREN IN OUR COMMUNITY,IT IS A CHARTER SCHOOL, SO PLEASE IF THERE IS ANY THING THAT YOU CAN DONATE IT WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU
rererererere
can i get free school supplies i really need it i dont have enough money to buy the school supplies i to save my money to aford the school supplies
music supplies
We are a small, full inclusion model public school in Boston MA. Although we have a vibrant music program, we are trying to develop a Music Tech lab. Also, we would to obtain a few choral risers to use for our Spring Concert.
thanks!
Kind of horrifying...
I find it kind of horrifying that the three comments are rife with sloppiness. One is in all-caps and omits spaces after commas, etc. The other two fail to use capital letters to begin sentences or to use punctuation to delineate sentences, etc. I don't think this is representative of how educators write -- I certainly hope not, as how can we expect our children to learn to write correctly if their teachers do not?
stickers
I use stickers to make beginning readers for my class and my school. We are an inner city public school located in North Philly. I need stickers that connect to each other in some form. For example, one seet I recently found was playground sights, so the book was a very simple one highlighting basic sight vocabulary: I see the skateboad. I see the slide. I see the kite. Each book is six to seven pages long, so I need that many different pictures that connect. If you can, you will be helping dozens of new readers. Thanks.
my mom has 5 childrerns and she dosent have a stable work and der are 3 of us that need suppies first one dat is goin to 7th ,5th and one of 1grade and mi mom need help with supplies thanks.
I am a mother of four children that are all in school . I lost my job in july after working there for five years taking care of the elders and having a hard time finding work .With school starting in just a few weeks wonted to know if there is any help out there.
need help with home schooling supplies
I am a disabled mom of a 3rd grade girl. She too is sick with the same hereditary disease and misses lots of time from school, just in hospital stays alone. Her doctor and teacher thought it might not be such a bad deal to pull her out and homeschool for this upcoming school year. I've bought a few text books, a couple of supplies, but we could really use a few more things. If you're able to help me please let me know and I'll explain the things were hoping to obtain, whether new or used. I, in return, will pass them onto another person in need. Thank-you! Beth from Delaware
Errors in comments _and_ ethics in article disturbing
It's great that some organizations and businesses want to help schools, but shouldn't we think twice about selling advertising space on instructional materials? Also, I'm sure those packages from Office Max serve their own commercial ends before that of the educational goals. I'm surprised that Tara Snyder includes no mention of where one might draw the line here. I recommend the Media Education Foundation's film "Captive Audience" for an engaging introduction to this issue.
I agree with Stephen Jacob that the errors in the comments are slightly horrifying, but I'm assuming that some of the posts are from folks trolling the site and not actual educators.