Soon, our kids will head back to school or enter for the very first time. This was always a special event in my household. I escorted my children on their first day and got all teary-eyed while looking at all the little girls with their fresh french braids, ponytails, and barrettes hanging from the ends; and the little boys with their fresh-from-the-barbershop cuts. They all looked like little professionals in their crispy shirts, skirts, and creased pants. But with all the newness came a few questions. What’s with that 200-item school supply list?
I mean, does a first grader really need 72 sharpened pencils, 6 folders with pockets, 5 wide-ruled notebooks, Fiskar scissors (and why Fiskar?), 1 wooden ruler (what are they going to be measuring when they’re still learning how to add?), 1 box of crayons, 1 box of Crayola markers (again with the brand name?), 3 big erasers (the erasers on the 72 pencils aren’t enough?), 1 bottle of Elmer’s glue (rolls eyes at the brand name), 1 pack of glue sticks, 1 pencil box, 1 large pack of post-its, 1 ream of copy paper (500 sheets), a 4-pack of index cards (2 white and 2 colored), 3 packs of 8 dry erase markers, 1 box of Kleenex, 2 hand sanitizers, 1 liquid soap, 1 tub of disinfectant wipes, 2 rolls of paper towels, 1 box of gallon-size Ziploc bags, 1 box of sandwich-size Ziploc bags, 1 ream of colored paper (colored, too?), 1 pack of wide-ruled loose leaf paper (What? The 5 wide-ruled notebooks aren’t enough?), and a 1 and ½ inch binder. By the way, this is an actual and not a made up list. As a substitute teacher who had long-term assignments, I’m going to tell you exactly why all these things are needed. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Ready? Here it is: These supplies are not just for your child, they are for the whole classroom. Now, before you get sassy and say, “Well, I’m not supplying the whole classroom,” let me tell you my experience.
One year, I subbed for an absent teacher from the first day of school in September until she returned after New Years. If you’re a parent of a Chicago Public School student, you already know that the class sizes are quite large. In fact, the largest class I’ve ever subbed for had 33 students! Try providing enough Kleenex for 33 runny noses during a cold and flu season and see how long your inventory lasts. Paper towels are like gold. Kids are messy. And they throw up. A custodian of a large school might not be able to drop everything and get to the classroom to clean up the mess as fast as you’d like. So rather than wait and let the mess stay there, I’d take a big wad of paper towels and clean it myself. And that’s where the disinfectant wipes come in. And hand sanitizer. I couldn’t just let the germs stay there, so I’d wipe down anything that...well, you get the picture. Any good teacher wipes down desks on a regular basis. You have no idea how many children find interesting things and put them...ok, I’ll just leave that there. That ream of copy paper? Let me explain.
Each copier is filled with paper every day. Depending on the number of teachers and copies they have to make, that could add up to a lot of paper. There are only so many minutes of prep time. Can you imagine running up two flights of stairs to make copies only to discover that the machine is out of paper? If you did not bring your own ream, imagine sprinting down the stairs to the first floor to get paper from the office. And let me tell you, “Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat!”
Those three big erasers? Teachers put children in groups of 3-5 and label them as tables. One eraser will likely be labeled for a table. Trust me. Those pencil erasers don’t last long. Especially when some kids chew them. I could explain how it works for every item on this list, but that would turn into a novel, and you have other things to do today. Unfortunately, teachers don’t get everything the kids need.
Some kids don’t have any supplies at all. If a teacher has 27 kids in a class, she will not get those supplies times 27. That means some kids won’t be prepared to learn. So pat yourself on the back if you’re able to fulfill the list. You are helping the whole classroom community.
No matter how many supplies a teacher receives on the first day, I can tell you from experience that she may be sending letters home asking for more Kleenex and wipes by October.
I’d like to hear from you! Tell me what you think in the comments.
