Local classrooms in need of supplies for upcoming school year

As we enter the middle of the summer season, the 9 School Tools drive is in full swing.

Channel 9′s Elsa Gillis delves into what local classrooms need to succeed this school year.

According to our partner, Classroom Central, 54% of students come to school with absolutely nothing because they can’t afford supplies.

Without those supplies, students are at least twice as likely to feel excluded from their peers and develop negative associations with education.

9 School Tools

“It makes the students feel more connected to school, like school is for them, that they can learn, they want to attend school, and then the ripple effect of that is academic achievement, college, and career preparedness, and they can go on to do and be anything,” said Classroom Central Executive Director Karen Calder.

They estimate that teachers spend around two full paychecks per year on supplies for their students.

For the past school year, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction said the starting certified teacher salary was $39,000.

Most counties say they supplement those salaries.

Click here for donation locations and learn more about how you can help. The most needed items haven’t changed: pencils, glue sticks, notebooks, and paper.

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