Educator Warehouse Opens Aug. 12

Michigan schools have a serious inequity problem according to a report by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission.

By Press release submission

Aug 5, 2021

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools issued the following announcement on August 5.

After being closed for the summer, the WS/FCS Educator Warehouse is reopening on Aug. 12.

On Aug. 12, new teachers will be able to shop from 3 to 8 p.m. On Aug. 13, veteran teachers and new teachers can shop from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and, on Aug. 13, veteran teachers and new teachers can shop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

On Aug. 21 – the Saturday before school starts for students – the warehouse will be open to new and veteran teachers from 9 to 11 a.m.

Once school starts, the warehouse is open not only to teachers but also to teacher assistants and other classified employees as well as School Counselors, School Social Workers, Principals, Assistant Principals, and others. If you have a question about eligibility, get in touch with the warehouse.

The warehouse is following all COVID protocols with masks and social distancing. Shoppers are asked to make an appointment and to wear a mask and bring their own shopping bags. Online shopping is also available.

To register to shop – and for more information – go to Educator Warehouse.

Once school starts, regular hours will be Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. (regular school days only) and Saturdays (first and third only) from 9 to 11 a.m.

The warehouse is located on the grounds of Diggs-Latham Elementary School at 986 Hutton St.

Ware 34 AUGUST 5, 2021 – The Educator Warehouse offers teachers the opportunity to pick up supplies for students and for their classrooms that they might otherwise have to pay for themselves.

“Over the past year and a half, we have witnessed the resilience and dedication of our educators during a very difficult time,” said Kendra Hoyle-Johnson, the Manager of the Educator Warehouse.

“We have also witnessed courage and determination from our children during a time of uncertainty.”

“What better way to appreciate our teachers and encourage our students than to support them with the supplies they need to start each day with success.”

With many teachers spending their own money to provide supplies for students, the Educator Warehouse serves to lighten the load.

The warehouse does that by offering – at no cost to teachers – notebooks, pencils, and many more basics, along with books.

In addition to books and the basics, the warehouse has many other items.

Thanks to a donation from a science supply company, for instance, the warehouse has such science equipment as microscopes, test tubes, and pipettes used to transport liquids in experiments.

Ware 11The warehouse also has face masks that schools can use when needed.

In addition to such useful accessories as the Periodic Table of Elements, the warehouse has some fun items, such as accessories that a teacher could use for a wacky-tacky dress-up day.

“We have different and unusual things where the teachers can use their imagination,” said Karel Chandler, the Chair of the warehouse’s Advisory Committee.

And JOANN Fabric and Crafts regularly donates seasonal items that can be used to decorate a virtual classroom for holidays.

In supporting teachers, the warehouse also supports students, Chandler said.

“My purpose is for every child to have the necessary school supplies to start the day every day of the year,” she said.

The warehouse is a collaboration of the Forsyth Educator Partnership, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Council of PTAs, and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

When teachers come to shop, Chandler said, they will need to wear a mask and bring their own bags to hold the materials they select.

The people at the warehouse work really hard to keep everything clean and sanitized, she said.

This is the 11th school year for the warehouse.

Teachers are eligible to come once per quarter. Hoyle-Johnson hopes that teachers come not only at the beginning of the school year but also throughout the year.

While the majority of the shoppers teach at elementary schools, the warehouse has much that can be of assistance to teachers in middle and high school, Hoyle-Johnson said.

For instance, publishers donate books and teachers donate books they no longer need. Books on hand include ones that students are assigned to read. So teachers could pick up books to give or loan to students who might otherwise have difficulty obtaining a copy.

Ware 56“We are definitely a great source for a classroom library,” Hoyle-Johnson said.

People throughout the community are invited to donate items.

For those wishing to donate, especially needed supplies include glue sticks, hand sanitizers and facial tissues. Other items on the wish list include wooden pencils, notebook paper, crayons, composition books, erasers, mechanical pencils, paper clips.

On the afternoon of Tuesday Aug. 2, Mary Baginski, who taught at Sedge Garden Elementary before retiring, and her husband, Frank Baginski, dropped by to drop off supplies. It was their first visit to the warehouse and Chandler gave them an impromptu tour.

The warehouse cannot accept such outdated items as cassettes and VHS tapes and such outdated equipment as overhead projectors and resource books with a copyright before 2010.

Nor can it accept electronics, clothing, or furniture, with the exception of some bookcases. Those wanting to donate a bookcase should check first with the people at the warehouse.

************

Ware 78When teachers come to the warehouse, they will find that it is divided into rooms that focus on particular areas of the curriculum. In the Science Room is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) corner where teachers can pick up –supplies students might use in STEM projects, such as straws, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, pipe cleaners, Q-tips, cotton balls, and Play-Doh.

The warehouse has an amazing amount of supplies. At a recent inventory that Hoyle-Johnson conducted with the help of volunteers, they counted 26,000 pencils, 18,700 pens, 22,500 books, 2,300 packs of spiral notebooks and another 2,800 individual spiral notebooks.

Items donated to the warehouse are assigned points based on what a new item would sell for in an office supply store or what a used item might sell for in a thrift store.

Each quarter, teachers are assigned 35 points to spend. Those who bring their own shopping bags receive an extra 2 points. Teachers can also earn extra points by volunteering at the warehouse.

Depending on what teachers choose, they may be able to “buy” hundreds of dollars worth of materials during the course of the school year.

Ware 12The warehouse is supported by volunteers. Some are retired educators who regularly volunteer at the warehouse. During regular school years, volunteers have included high school students participating in the Crosby Scholars program who earn service hours by volunteering at the warehouse.

The warehouse receives substantial support from individuals, businesses and members of the community.

Some of the supplies at the warehouse come from teachers. Some come from retiring teachers. Others are useful materials that active teachers no longer need. Each year, the warehouse sends out boxes to schools to be filled with supplies that teachers no longer need.

“A huge ‘thank you’ to all of our teachers who have donated their gently used supplies and to our retired teachers,” Chandler said.

People at schools that would like to have a donation box in the building are asked to get in touch with the warehouse.

Local businesses and organizations support the Educator Warehouse in a number of ways.

Ware 65At the Go Forward 5K organized by the Lewisville-Clemmons Chamber of Commerce for Aug. 21, participants have been invited to bring school supplies to donate to the warehouse.

Sutton Brothers – a plumbing/HVAC company based in Kernersville – has come up with a fun way to support the Educator Warehouse and the Teacher Supply Warehouse in Guilford County.

People can go online to the company’s website and vote for their favorite “Back to School” movie. The list includes 10 Things I Hate about You, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Grease, and The Breakfast Club.

Depending on the number of votes, both The Educator Warehouse and the Teacher Supply Warehouse could receive up to $1,000. For more information and to vote, go to Sutton Brothers.

State Farm Insurance Agent Rick Babusiak has been promoting the Educator Warehouse in his advertising.

Listeners of WBRF Classic Country at 98.1 will also hear ads supporting the warehouse.

On Aug. 7 – from 3 to 6 p.m. – the non-profit organization Love Out Loud is scheduled to have a school supply drive in the parking lot at Diggs-Latham Elementary, where the warehouse is located. For more information, go to Love Out Loud.

Ware 90The Publix store on Miller Street in Winston-Salem has held a supply drive every year since the store opened in 2016. After it opened, the Publix store in Clemmons began participating.

When customers are checking out, they can add the donation the want to make to their bills. Later, Publix will bring school supplies to the warehouse worth the total donated.

Such businesses as Inmar have school supply drives, and Forsyth Woman/Forsyth Family magazines has invited people to bring supplies to events sponsored by the magazines.

JOANN Fabric and Crafts donates items it is no longer selling.

The list of supporters continues.

The warehouse also supports other organizations by donating books that teachers don’t take during the course of a school year.

The warehouse is incorporated as a nonprofit organization, and checks can be made out to Educator Warehouse and sent to Educator Warehouse, P.O. Box 141, Winston-Salem, NC 27102.

At one time, only full-time teachers in public schools in Forsyth County were eligible to use the warehouse. Since the 2018-19 school year, teachers from five public charter schools in Forsyth County will be eligible to shop at the warehouse.

Ware 77Before shopping, teachers are asked to register online and to make an appointment at least one day in advance. To register, go to Educator Warehouse.

Teachers can also order online and pick up their order at the warehouse within two weeks. Teachers who don’t spend all 35 points online have the option of making an appointment and spending the rest of their points when they pick up the order.

The businesses and organizations supporting the Educator Warehouse through donations of money and/or items include:

Forsyth Woman/Forsyth Family magazines

Forsyth County chapter of Professional Women in Building

Tucker Orthodontics

JOANN Fabric and Crafts

Publix

Inmar

Carson-Delossa Publishing Group

Winston-Salem Open tennis tournament

The Shepherd’s Center of Greater Winston-Salem

Lewisville-Clemmons Chamber of Commerce

Sutton Brothers