Ever wondered what happens when a teacher has her entire classroom wishlist cleared in one fell swoop? The team at Teach Starter found out this September when we decided to surprise one of the winners of our Back-to-School Clear Your List Giveaway in her Georgia classroom!
Teacher Amanda Elkins of Cloud Springs Elementary in Rossville, Georgia, entered the giveaway this summer when she purchased a subscription to Teach Starter. Her name was one of several chosen at random to win a $500 Visa gift card to buy much-needed supplies for her 5th-grade classroom.
“At Teach Starter, we create resources to help teachers set their classrooms up for success, and it’s the teachers like Amanda Elkins who remind us why we love what we do every day. “ said Teach Starter CEO Liz McMillan. “We know these last two years have been particularly challenging for teachers, and yet every day they’re walking into classrooms, rolling up their sleeves, and inspiring their students.”
A study by the nonprofit AdoptaClassroom.org found that teachers spent an average of $750 out of pocket on school supplies during the 2020-21 school year, and Teach Starter devised its giveaway to ease some of that burden. And that’s exactly what Elkins told the Teach Starter team happened when we arrived in her fifth-grade classroom to surprise her class with $500 worth of books, colored pencils, whiteboard wipes, and a whole lot more — all from Elkins’ classroom wishlist.
Watch Teach Starter Resource Producer Randi Smith surprise the students in fifth grade at Cloud Springs!
“The clearing of my classroom list just allows me to give my students a little extra in terms of an engaging and interesting classroom,” Elkins told us. “It also takes away some of the financial burden off me and allows others to give to my classroom. The students LOVE getting new and engaging materials, so it is an all-around good situation!”
Elkins has been teaching for 13 years in Georgia’s Catoosa County School District, spending the last six as a middle school science teacher. It was when she made the move to elementary school math for the 2022-23 school year that she found herself having to start her lesson planning from scratch. That’s when she turned to Teach Starter!
“The switch has been an intense change. It is like learning to be a teacher all over again,” Elkins explained. “So many little things are different. It was a welcome change though, it is good to be reminded why you are teaching and switching grades has allowed me to realize I can still do this!”
“I joined [Teach Starter] to start finding some lessons and activities to ease my transition,” Elkins added.
With three sections of 15 students each for math, 18 for ELA extension time, 18 for math remediation time, and then a section of 15 for social studies/science time, Elkins has found herself having to learn an entirely new curriculum “as well as finding engaging ways to keep students interested and learning,” and Teach Starter is proud to be helping her be the teacher her students need her to be this school year.
Take a look at all the items that were purchased from Amanda Elkins’ Classroom Wishlist:
- OEF Furnishings Presentation Cart – Standard
- 35 pack Dry Erase Pockets
- Crayola Bulk Color Pencils – Pack of 24
- Multipurpose Copy Paper
- A Little Spot of Belonging Book
- I’m Trying to Love Rocks Book
- I Survived Books – Complete Series
- Expo Dry Erase Markers 36 Count
- Crayola Broadline Markers Classpack
- Ticonderoga Pencils
The Teach Starter Back-to-School Clear Your List Giveaway will end Friday, October 7, but there’s still time to win. Purchase a monthly or annual subscription now to enter! Terms and conditions apply.
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