OfficeMax – To The MAX! Again in 2010
A poet I am not, however, I do come bearing good news.
You see, OfficeMax has a great campaign that they run in conjunction with Adopt-a-Classroom which really is truly awesome. The point behind this big project is….to Erase Teacher Funded Classrooms. In case you are one of those who don’t know, many teachers get very little money by way of funding and buy a lot out of their own pocket.
Let’s start with these statistics:
Did you know that every year teachers spend nearly $1000 of their own money on school supplies? If you don’t, you’re not alone. Most people are not aware of this issue because it has been the norm for years. Unfortunately, recent school budget shortfalls are requiring teachers to provide more supplies for their classrooms to make up the difference. And their salaries have little room for growth. According to PayScale, experienced elementary school teachers make an average of $40,456 per year while middle and high school teachers make slightly more at $42,506 and $43,324 respectively. Yet new teachers entering the field make an average of $34,488, but due to poor working conditions and low salaries, more than half of new teachers leave the profession within the first five years, according to National Education Association. Thus, teachers will continue to be in high demand over the next ten years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Imagine my surprise on the first day of school when we had purchased the items on my 2nd graders supply list and we were not only greeted with a happy, smiling teacher, she had already invested a rather large chunk of change on her students. Let me show you…
(Please note, these were already put together and ready for the students before any supplies were sent to school by parents. That leaves only one place that the money came from to buy the following items ..her pocket).
The theme revolves around cowboys and horses. This is a plain white binder with a plastic covering on both front and back. The front page is what you see here and it says “Mrs. Dzielinski’s 2nd Grade” and at the bottom it says “Happy Organize Ready Students Everyday”. This folder is referred to by the teachers, students and parents as the child’s personal horse. Nice uh?
If you open it up, it has the 3 rings and a pocket on the left. Then, a plastic zippered bag is the first item you see. This is known as the Horse’s Saddle Bag” Money goes in this particular spot.
The pages inside this binder are all in sheet protectors (another item we were not asked to purchase). The first page is how they handle spelling. The next page changes on Friday’s with the Newsletter for the next week in it.
*Please note that everything continues to have ropes and cowboy like items on it.
The behavior portion is done with more horse themed ideas.
This is a plastic 3 hole punched pocket (that we did not purchase) which is where all the materials go that need to be “signed and returned as you can see.
This is yet another plastic pocket for communication between the teacher and parent. Behind this is a set of blank pages (unless of course you have my child, then it contains several notes 
The back of the “Horse” contains a fancy set of “Horse Rules” in which they are to abide by. If they abide by the rules, then obviously they wouldn’t have anything in the pocket folder or behind it for “Communication”. I am not that lucky …
What can I say? I’m not how many students she has…somewhere between 13 and 15. That’s obviously at least $100 out of her own pocket prior to even seeing the first child at parent/teacher night.
With that……….I give you my OfficeMax Teacher this year.
Mrs. Dzielinski!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She is surrounded by an equally wonderful staff and there’s no doubt that she is not a one woman show, however, this year, she had my attention at the word go.
Congratulations Mrs. Dzielinski and I will see you with a gift in hand soon!
I am a mom to two wonderful boys. They are my life. I needed a career where my kids could continue to be my life. We bought a daycare. Now, my boys and I spend all day together. Sometimes I need a mommy break, but mostly, I love it. I am definitely a mom who is focused clearly on her children. That's me, mom~e~centric.