Program sells school supplies to teachers at a reduced cost

Grace Lazarin knows that the beginning of the school year means spending money to make sure students have what they need.

“As teachers, we historically have always bought supplies for our classrooms with our own funds,” said Lazarin, an eighth-grade math teacher at Sedway Middle School, 3465 Engelstad St.

For her, spending money out of her own pocket is a systematic activity teachers do not only at the beginning of the school year but also throughout it. This happens especially for teachers at schools with students in need, who receive either discounted or free lunches.

Regardless of whether teachers are able to obtain funding from the Clark County School District, it is important for them to have additional resources available to supplement the needs of their classrooms and add to their students’ learning experience, especially if they have a limited spending budget, according to Lazarin.

“That is why I feel fortunate that the Teacher Exchange exists,” she said. “For me, this is just wonderful because it is so economically feasible to come here and get supplies for my classroom at a fraction of the cost of other places.”

The Teacher Exchange program, 4350 S. Maryland Parkway, is an initiative implemented by the Public Education Foundation that allows teachers to obtain classroom supplies at point value in exchange for a $20 donation that has the purchasing power of up to $750 worth of school supplies.

The program began in 2002 with a green initiative to give teachers gently used office supplies that a company may no longer need but would be necessary in a classroom.

“From the beginning, the program had a twofold purpose in trying to provide supplies to teachers and schools that needed them by recycling office supplies that teachers could use in the classroom but would otherwise be headed to the landfill,” said Shari Exber-Scheele, the Public Education Foundation’s senior vice president of development and community relations. “These supplies are things that could still be considered useful, such as dumping trays, and even things like construction paper and binders.”

When the program began, teachers benefited by invitation only as organizers had a limited amount of supplies. However, as the program has grown, it has continued to receive increasing amounts of used school materials and new supplies.

“A lot of our supply is donated by our corporate partners that include Caesars Entertainment, Caesars Foundation and Czarnowski,” said Michael Campbell, the Public Education Foundation’s director of communications and government affairs. “Our sponsors and other individual donors have also provided a lot of the supply we currently have at our warehouse.”

The Public Education Foundation also partnered with the Kids In Need Foundation, a national organization that helps children prepare for school with supplies and learning materials. Through such a relationship, the Teacher Exchange will benefit from a Kids In Need Foundation partnership with Target to receive new items that include school materials and classroom supplies.

Any Clark County School District teacher or teachers at state-sponsored charter schools can register with the Teacher Exchange for an initial 100 points free. If they want to obtain supplies beyond what they can purchase for the 100 points, they can donate $20 and obtain an additional 500 points. The $20 donation will then go toward the Teacher Exchange’s overhead costs, such as product shipping and maintenance.

“By providing supplies at such great value, we are trying to fill in the gaps for teachers,” said Tim McCubbin, the Public Education Foundation’s vice president for the Teacher Exchange and property operations. “About 8,000 teachers are registered with us, and we have provided approximately 2 million pounds of classroom materials, worth about $10 million, through the years.”

Lazarin said she spreads the word about the program.

“I recommend the Teacher Exchange to every teacher I come across, especially first-year teachers, who are sometimes really overwhelmed with their job in general,” Lazarin said. “I come here at least once a month, and for the $20, each time I get really great things and I am able to stock up. You can’t beat that.”

Those who have registered with the Teacher Exchange and became members by giving the $20 donation can obtain classroom supplies. Additionally, supplies are available through the program’s online store, as is an express van that travels to outlying areas of Clark County, such as Laughlin, Boulder City and Mesquite, Campbell said.

The Teacher Exchange established an additional program called Targeted Giving, which provides large amounts of donated supplies to schools, without the necessity of a monetary donation.

“Targeted Giving is often directed at schools that are most in need which might not otherwise have certain supplies,” Campbell said. “If a particular sponsor or entity donates a large amount of supplies, we typically want to give them to a school that has a need for those supplies. This is specially targeted for schools with free and reduced lunches that are 70 percent and above.”

Targeted Giving also might contact schools that would benefit from supplies that have nothing to do with a traditional classroom.

“A restaurant group wanted to re-stock its samples on the floor, so we took all their dishes and spoons, basically all their utensils,” Exber-Scheele said. “They weren’t complete full sets, but we contacted the culinary programs, and they took them because those things were perfect for them.”

For more information, visit tinyurl.com/teacherexchangelv.

Contact reporter Maria Agreda at magreda@reviewjournal.com or on Twitter at @mjfagre.