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Hamilton County: Teacher Supply Depot opens today

By: Kelli Gauthier
(Contact)

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Gail Phillips

If Linda Carter had bought the school supplies herself, it would have cost her well over $100.

But the Red Bank Middle School physical education teacher was able to “shop” at the Teacher Supply Depot and get calculators, paper clips, notepads and markers free of charge.

“You never have enough money to do what you need to do,” she said. “It’s extremely beneficial because we’re so limited in our funding.”

The Teacher Supply Depot, a collaboration between the Hamilton County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations and the local school system, is located downtown in the former Garber School and opens today for the first time this year. Organizers collect a wide array of donated school supplies and classroom necessities and invite teachers twice a year to come and fill up five-gallon buckets with what they need.

Items often are donated by local businesses, but those in charge say they encourage anyone to donate supplies, everything from Post-It notes, glue and crayons to printers, fabric samples and gently used office furniture.

The idea began five years ago when then-Superintendent Jesse Register and a task force decided to serve local teachers during a tight budget year, said Gail Phillips, committee chair of the nonprofit depot.

More than 350 teachers from 56 schools preregistered online to come in for a one-hour time slot today and browse through the warehouse, which is manned entirely by volunteers. If enough supplies are left over, Ms. Phillips said her board will open the depot for more teachers again this winter.

Art teacher Suzanne Mortimer, who says she often spends her own money to purchase supplies for classes at Red Bank Middle, has gone to the depot every year it’s been open.

“We are always needing materials in art class,” she said. “Sometimes (the depot) has more things than others, but you can always go see what you can use.”

Because the depot is run primarily by the local council of PTAs, Ms. Phillips said they encourage all attending teachers to join the parent-teacher chapter at their school.

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