For some area teachers, getting enough school supplies for their students is a lot cheaper with help from the non-profit Teacher Store in Elkhart.
The teacher store is part of the Feed the Children charity. It carries all sorts of school supplies from pencils and rulers to posters and binders that teachers from approved districts can take to their classrooms.
The store has specific hours for each district and only teachers can use it.
Darlene Anderson runs the teacher store. She said the idea is to help teachers help their students.
“You see the list that the schools have been providing as to what the students need when they return and it’s very difficult sometimes for the families to be able to provide all of those things for their children so what we try to do is provide those things at the very beginning.”
Schools can apply over the summer to be included in the districts allowed to use the store. Currently 49 districts in Indiana and Michigan are approved.
Anderson said they try to reach the districts with the most students in need. She says they’re always looking for volunteers to help sort and stock and for donations to help keep it going and expand.