MIAMI VALLEY — The back-to-school shopping rush is on.
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As reported on News Center 7 Daybreak, many parents are filling their carts with everything their child needs, but some can’t afford it.
That means many teachers spend their own money.
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“I love just coming every day for a new day,” said Joey Noel, a second-grade teacher at DECA Prep in Dayton. “I see a lot of my students, sometimes more than they see their own family at home during the school week. So we treat each other as family.”
News Center 7 Consumer Reporter Xavier Hershovitz says that family feeling means making sure each student in her class has everything they need to succeed.
Even if it means buying them herself.
“I usually tend to spend about $1,000 easily,” said Noel.
Hershovitz says she is far from alone.
Teachers spent around $895 on school supplies last year, according to a survey from the non-profit, “Adopt a Classroom.”
The out-of-pocket spending has increased by 49 percent over 10 years.
“We’re seeing that need growing,” said Carlye Rausch, director of programs for Crayons to Classroom.
The Dayton-based non-profit provides school supplies for teachers with at-risk students in Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, and Warren counties.
It serves 144 schools and care centers.
“There is such a high need, not only from the teachers’ perspective, the students’ perspective, but the whole community’s perspective,” said Rausch.
Hershovitz says teachers can come in and shop at the store. They grab those essentials, including notebooks, pencils, and crayons.
But teachers are also getting things that we often don’t think of.
“Socks, underwear, hats, mittens, gloves. They don’t have those things, even hygiene items. They don’t have those things at home. So it’s just an additional thing that we can provide. And those things fly off the shelves,” said Rausch.
Last school year, Crayons to Classroom gave out over $2.8 million worth of school supplies.
Hershovitz says the average shopping visit per teacher was almost $700, with over 2,000 teachers coming into the store.
“Having this here has been a godsend,” said Noel.
It gives a direct helping hand to teachers like her.
“Are you still spending $1,000 a year?” Hershovitz asked.
“Absolutely not,” answered Noel. “No. Recently, I just got stuff for my classroom. It was $75. That was it. ”
But most important to her, it’s how those supplies have helped her students.
“If I see like, students that don’t have any, I just go back to my cranes of classroom stash and just put it on their desk,” said Noel. “It doesn’t make them feel left out. It just makes them feel part of the family in the classroom.”
Not saving her money, but making sure the students in her classroom family have everything they need.
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