Hamilton County Schools organizes supply drive to assist new teachers

Many classrooms are crowded — full of students, books, supplies and oftentimes posters, signs and other required materials on the walls.

In Hamilton County, teachers post daily learning targets, and in most elementary classrooms, they display sight words or vocabulary words, math equations, reward charts and more.

And then there are the manila file folders, staplers, adult scissors, index

cards and masking tape — supplies they need but don’t request from students.

On average, buying classroom supplies can cost teachers about $450 a year, said Erin Kirby with Hamilton County Schools. And many teachers say they spend more than twice that.

For first-year teachers, many of them recent college graduates, setting up their classrooms can be a struggle.

New hires in Hamilton County don’t receive their first paychecks until mid-August, according to district officials, which can be a financial burden for those trying to get their classrooms ready for a successful start to the school year.

In an effort to fill the gap this year, Hamilton County’s human resources staff has organized a new teacher supply drive.

“Teachers don’t all have supply closets to grab pens or paper clips,” Kirby said. “Personally, I spent $1,000 on a credit card to get my classroom set up and comfortable for my first year teaching. We are trying to do whatever we can to ease that burden.”

During the 2018-19 school year, Hamilton County rolled out a program for new teachers that includes one-to-one mentoring for first-year teachers, a support network and specific training during the year geared toward new teachers. As an induction specialist in this program, Kirby’s job is to help support teachers through their first three years in the profession.

The supply drive is one of the ways she hopes to show new teachers they are valued.

Community members are invited to donate items or funding for new teacher supplies. Kirby and her team are still looking for especially popular supplies such as threehole punches and sticky notes.

For more information on how to help, contact Mallary Netterville at netterville_m@ hcde.org or Erin Kirby at kirby_erin@hcde.org.

Contact Meghan Mangrum at mmangrum@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6592. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.