WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The countdown is on as traditional schools head back to the classroom in just a few weeks and now is the time for teachers to stock up on supplies.
The Tools4Schools store is now open as part of the WakeEd Partnership. Teachers are able to sign up online to shop. When they sign up they get 100 points and all of the supplies from glue sticks to notebooks are assigned point values.
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These supplies come from private and public donations and this year's response has been overwhelming making sure the shelves are fully stocked for teachers.
In July of 2022, the store opened for the first full school year and served almost 5,000 of Wake County's 11,000 educators and this year they're hoping to reach even more because teachers reported spending more that $900 of their own money on supplies for their classrooms.
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"We understand that there's a gap here. This is the only career path to ask you to buy supplies to be successful in your role. So we want to ensure that we are bridging that gap for educators and making sure they have what they need," said Sheneika Simmons with WakeEd Partnership.
The next three weeks of shopping has been booked by teachers but they have until October 1 to shop for the first quarter of the year. To sign up click here.