‘This is like Christmas’ – New teachers get needed school supplies

New teachers were carefully looking over rooms filled with donated classroom supplies on Tuesday, Aug. 15, when Sarah McGlynn heard a comment that made her day during the busy event. “I just heard somebody say ‘This is like Christmas,’” said Ms. McGlynn, a teacher and member of the Davenport Education Association. That Christmas-in-August comment was […]

New teachers were carefully looking over rooms filled with donated classroom supplies on Tuesday, Aug. 15, when Sarah McGlynn heard a comment that made her day during the busy event. “I just heard somebody say ‘This is like Christmas,’” said Ms. McGlynn, a teacher and member of the Davenport Education Association.

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That Christmas-in-August comment was made during Tuesday’s Teacher Re-Store event – a day where new teachers in the Davenport Community Schools system could get just about any item they needed to help educate their students. All those educational items were free. The Teacher Re-Store initiative was presented by the Davenport Education Association and Active Community Conscious Teachers Committee. The groups and its members gathered the materials from mentor teachers, retired educators and three Davenport elementary schools that closed after classes ended this spring, including Buchanan, Monroe and Washington. Those former school buildings will likely be demolished in the coming months. Ms. McGlynn said offering the school supplies that came from those buildings was an effort to create a positive legacy out of the sad news of school closures. In its ninth year, Teacher Re-Store is held to assist new hires with the costs associated with classroom setup. Around 100 new teachers – or “baby teachers,” as Ms. McGlynn called them – were expected to attend this year’s event to gather free classroom materials. In the opening hour, at least 20 teachers were at the site – the Stepping Stones building at 1002 W. Kimberly Road, Davenport – to get boxes of supplies they need for the school year. “We’re here to support them, let them know we have their backs," Ms. McGlynn said. "We hope this will lift the load a little bit.”   Some of the supplies included books, pencils, notepads, jump ropes, water bottles, small toys and much more. The main room of the re-store was filled with shelves of books, games, bottles of glue and bottles of hand sanitizer. As the teachers went from room to room, looking for supplies, Ms. McGlynn had this advice for them: “If it’s not nailed to the floor or wall, you can have it.” One of the new teachers filling cardboard boxers with supplies on Tuesday was Miciyah Carter, who will be a kindergarten teacher at Truman Elementary School in Davenport when classes start later this month. “I’m looking for a bunch of little things to keep the kids motivated. … I got a little timer to keep the kids and myself accountable,” Ms. Carter said. Some of her favorite items she found at the event included a collection of small toys – many of them colorful animal figures – all in a clear plastic container labeled “Desk Pets.” “These will be prizes for my students,” she added. The small toys, extra pencils, paper, books and more are all items that are needed for the classroom. In the past, many teachers had to pay for those items out of their own pockets, Ms. McGlynn said. That situation really hasn’t changed over the years. She added that the reason many former students think the school supply situation has gotten worse over the years is because their school days were often filled with  “sunshine and lollipops” and they didn’t realize their former teachers had to buy many of the classroom supplies — including the lollipops. Events like the Teacher Re-Store have been helping ease the financial burden for new teachers, she added. Teacher Re-Store will continue. Ms. McGlynn said there will be another supply giveaway next week to accommodate the new teachers who were unable to attend Tuesday. Also, Teacher Re-Store events are usually held once a quarter during the school year. “I am hoping by the end of this event, all these shelves are empty,” she added, as she looked at the many school supplies still available on Tuesday afternoon.