CMC Teacher’s Warehouse: For our schools…..for our children!
The Teachers Warehouse is joint project between the Clarksville Montgomery County Education Foundation and Hands on Clarksville. The warehouse provides free school supplies to licensed CMCSS teachers.
Rita Arancibia from Hands On Clarksville said “?I first emailed Candy Johnson with the Education Foundation back in April about the idea for a free store for teachers. Because I have a son who is a teacher I knew the kind of needs that our teachers have. Our teachers frequently end up spending their already limited pay on supplies for their classrooms and students. I wanted to come up with a way help them meet those needs. It turned out that Candy was having thought along the same lines.” Candy Johnson said “The teachers have been delighted to have this wonderful resource available to them. The average teacher spends between $500 and $1,000 of their own money to buy supplies for their students each year. I would hope that the teachers that benefit from the store get a sense of the care and thoughtfulness of the local community. In Clarksville we really do care about our teachers!”
Hands on Clarksville provides the volunteers to man the store, and the Education Foundation can use their extensive resources to help to acquire some of the things needed to stock the store, and of course most importantly access to the teachers. ” Hands on Clarksville provides a web based interface to volunteer for organizations in Clarksville, TN such as the CMC Teacher’s Warehouse.
The way it is setup, each item is assigned a value, each teacher is given 30 points per visit, and can make up to 4 visits per year. Based on the value of certain items , or when there is a limited supply available, additional limits may be placed on the quantity of certain items available per teacher. When selecting products, teachers should take only what they need for their classroom. By signing the pledge on the checkout sheet, the teachers promises to only use the items they are given in their classroom for the benefit of their students.
The only thing that the Teacher’s Warehouse asks of their clients is that they write thank you notes to community members and area businesses that make the free store possible. They are given a list of donors to send thanks to during their shopping trip and either teacher or their students can send thank you notes to the donors.
You or your business can still help the Free Store for Teachers by making either a cash donation, or by purchasing school supplies and donating them for distribution to the teachers. For a specific list of items they are currently in need of, contact Candy Johnson at (931) 920-7955, or Rita Arancibia at 931-551-5450. Donations to the Warehouse are tax deductible for businesses and individuals.
A retired couple who live in the area and wish to remain anonymous has already donated $1,000 to help purchase supplies for the Teachers Warehouse. The wife was a teacher from the state of Missouri. Who received her BA in Education, and upon Graduation she started a kindergarten in Craig, MO. During her education career she taught elementary grads in Germany for the Department of Defense Schools, and at Fort Lenardwood MO. She was an educator for over twenty five years. From her personal experience she knows how much teachers need assistance with acquiring additional supplies for their classrooms. “This is an excellent solution to helping teachers concentrate on teaching instead of having to worry about not the having necessary supplies for their students.”
The Store will be open on 1st and 4th Tuesdays 3:30-6:00 p.m. and 1st and 4th Saturdays 9:00-1:00p.m. From August- October (Fall) and January-February (Spring) unless otherwise listed. Appointments are required.
For more information on the Free Store for Public School Teachers visit the Education Foundation’s web page on the CMC Teacher’s Warehouse.
About the Clarksville-Montgomery County Education Foundation
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