Teacher Supply Store provides much needed supplies

Tables were stacked with piles of erasers, pencils, paper and other school supplies at the American Legion Hut on Tuesday.

The 11th annual Teacher Supply Store, a collaboration between the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation and the East Chapel Hill Rotary Club, continues on  Wednesday.

Teachers receive a $75 voucher they can use to shop for individually priced school supplies.

Smith Middle School teacher Adesua Edgal said she was especially thankful for the event, considering teachers in other school districts might not have similar opportunities.

“I always thought the Chapel Hill community was really great as a Tar Heel, but after I began to teach, I realized it goes so far beyond the University,” Edgal said. 

Corrie Franklin, an orchestra teacher at Culbreth Middle School and Chapel Hill High School, has attended the event three times. She said the annual event is vital for teachers to prepare for the coming school year and makes them feel appreciated by the community. 

When the event started, the inventory nearly reached the ceiling, but by 4 p.m. what was left barely covered the tables, said Lynn Lehmann, the executive director of the Public School Foundation.

“Rotary is the group that raises all the funds, and the Public School Foundation takes the money, shops for supplies and organizes the supplies,” Lehmann said. 

Pat Phelan, an event coordinator from the Rotary Club, said that much of this funding comes from private contributions from people with a personal or familial connection to teachers. The Rotary Club also relies on radio interviews with WCHL and Curtis Media to spread the word. 

“The biggest pot of money comes from the East Chapel Hill Rotary Club, but Rotary International also has a matching grant where they match whatever money we raise,” Phelan said. 

Suki Newton and Allison Worthy, board members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation and co-chairs of the Teacher Supply Store, have been involved with the event for the last ten years. Newton and Worthy oversaw the first Supply Store event in 2008 and held another one later that year following its success. It has been an annual event since. 

Through resources like the Teacher Supply Store, community support has increased over the same time, helping to offset the loss of state funding, said Dr. Rydell Harrison, assistant superintendent for instructional services.

“From a state level, we’ve seen a pretty consistent decline in funding every year, and as funding has decreased over the years, we’ve had to rely more on local sources," he said.

Since raising $10,000 in the first year, Worthy said the Store has consistently grown, now spending $38,000. 

"Once we determine the number of teachers served, that determines how much the Rotary Club has to raise,” Worthy said.  

Lehmann said enough money was raised to invite teachers from every middle and high school in the district. 

“I’ve been here since day one, in 2008, when we served 60 teachers," Phelan said. "That’s increased to 650 this year.”   

To know which items are most in demand, Phelan said the Public School Foundation sends out a survey to teachers who respond with what they need most for their classrooms. 

“Our other great partner is the local Staples store,” Lehmann said. “We do our shopping there, they give us a nice discount and they store all our supplies in their warehouse.” 

Worthy said while veteran teachers may have most of the materials they need for the year, new instructors often start with nothing and the Teacher Supply Store acts as a starting point. 

“It’s like Christmas in August,” Worthy said. “They come in and feel so appreciated and so valued, and it’s like a gift.”  

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