Portland teacher on impact of donating to KGW School Supply Drive

Nov 26, 2023

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PORTLAND, Ore. — Summer school is in full swing.

"It's been wonderful. It's been a lot of fun," teacher Angelo Carr said.

Carr is spending the sunny season teaching a STEM-focused program in the Centennial School district.

"We put on a three-week program focused on science and those creative activities that we don't necessarily have the time to do during the year," he said.

RELATED: The 2023 KGW School Supply Drive is going on now

A fun-filled summer of learning, but before long he'll be back in his third-grade classroom at Parklane Elementary in Southeast Portland for the first day of school this fall.

"It's going to be different this year because last year was my first year," he said. "And so, it was even more of a scramble of like, what do I need? What do kids need? What are they going to bring into school?"

Carr is going into his second year of teaching and he’s excited about the possibilities ahead.

"Every morning I wake up with a new idea," he said. "I write it down: I’m going to need this, I’m going to need that."

Big ideas to keep his students engaged. All that learning will require things like pencils, notebooks, highlighters, crayons and so much more.

"I feel like it's very inequitable and unkind to say to a kid, 'You need these 300 things in order to be successful in this classroom,' and expect their parents to be able to get all that for them. It’s a bigger burden on some families than others," Carr said.

The burden of buying all of that for his classroom and students is made a bit easier with the support of the community through the KGW School Supply Drive. It supports over 75 school districts in Oregon and southwest Washington by partnering with Schoolhouse Supplies.

"It's amazing. It's the essence of what a community is, right?" Carr said.

Since 1999, it's been the mission of Schoolhouse Supplies to foster educational equity by providing free supplies to under-resourced students and classrooms.

"It is a vital support to students to have the materials they need in their hands at the time when they’re ready to learn. Whether that’s a pencil and piece of paper or arts and craft supplies and adequate lending supply of books in the classroom itself," said Ann Riddle, board member for Schoolhouse Supplies.

Riddle volunteered with schoolhouse supplies for more than 17 years. She's now a board member on top of her job as Student Services Administrator for the Centennial School District.

"Having teachers be able to have the supplies that they need to give kids that start just takes a load off the students and the teachers and the parents," she said.

There are different opportunities for families to get supplies throughout the school year. Teachers like Carr can stop by their "free store for teachers" to get what they need.

"It was wild. The first time that I went I was awestruck," Carr said. "Having that possibility of just going to a store and just getting all the things that I needed, it was hugely impactful for me and really set me up for success in the school year."

"No one teacher can do this by themselves," Riddle said. "No one parent can do this by themselves and no one school does this by themselves. Our students are part of a broader community, not just a family, not just a school."

You can be part of that community impact by donating to the KGW School Supply Drive. Give online, at a collection site, or collection event.

"Especially at an elementary school, these kids have so much in front of them. They can do anything. They can become anything," Carr said. "And they really just need that support from family, from teachers, and from the community as a whole — to help them get there, to have the things they need to make these dreams accessible."