Miami-Dade Teachers Get Free Supplies With Help From The Education Fund

Miami-Dade teachers got a ton of free supplies to wrap up preparations ahead of the next school year.

Thanks to The Education Fund and Legacy Foundation, anything from posters, pen and paper, and cleaning supplies were available for teachers to grab.

Teachers at the warehouse told NBC 6 that this is a blessing.

Brittany McKnight, a civics teacher in Miami-Dade Public Schools, says this helps classrooms in the long run.

“It helps them to enhance their learning, and for teachers, it helps them to not come out of their pockets,” she said.

Saving money is top of mind with the price teachers pay for everything they need going up.

Adoptaclassroom.org says teachers spent about $750 out of pocket last year to get their classrooms ready. They say it’s the highest amount ever.

“Things have gotten very expensive, so the fact we’re getting these things for free… it’s a plus,” said McKnight.

The Education Fund has provided this type of help for teachers for the last 30 years. They receive donations from big companies and people.

Those supplies then go to the Ocean Bank Center for Educational Materials, where teachers can go get them for free.

“In the past year we gave out $3 million worth of supplies,” said The Education Fund president Linda Lecht.  “We had over 3,000 teachers. This year, we project to help over 250,000 students by working with their teachers.”

This year, there was a colorful donation made to honor Tyler Spann. He was a 15-year-old who passed away in Panama City.

More than 2,400 packs of crayons were donated to this event to honor him.

“Tyler’s football jersey was 24 and he loved to color,” said Trina Long from the Legacy Donor Services Foundation.

Teachers at the warehouse Tuesday say they feel grateful for the donations. It helps them wrap up their classroom prep.

“It is impossible for us, we do the best we can, but without the Ocean Bank and the education fund, we couldn’t have done this,” said Dania Teygid, a Spanish teacher.

The warehouse, located at 6890 NW 76th St in Medley, is open year-round. Teachers in MDPS can go there two times per year to get free supplies.

You can register to participate here.