Wright State graduates receive free school supplies to jump start their teaching careers

More than 75 recent Wright State University education graduates who secured teaching positions in area schools received a boost as they prepare for their first year in the classroom — free classroom supplies from Crayons to Classrooms.

The new teachers were invited to a special event on July 29, where they filled carts with supplies to decorate and stock their new classrooms.

Aurora McVey, who graduated from Wright State this spring and landed a teaching position at Lebanon City Schools, said the opportunity helped ease the stress of starting a new job.

“Everyone is welcoming and trying their best to help us,” said McVey, who filled an entire shopping cart with supplies.

Crayons to Classrooms is a free school supply store that supports teachers from underfunded pre-K-12 schools in the Miami Valley.

Now in its third year, the partnership has provided over $123,000 worth of school supplies to Wright State teacher education graduates, said Amy Kopp, a 2001 alumna and executive director of Crayons to Classrooms.

“When they’re beginning, they don’t have all of the items they need for their classrooms,” said Amy Elston, Ph.D., assistant director of the Office of Partnerships and Field Experiences in the College of Health, Education and Human Services.

About a dozen Wright State faculty and staff assisted the recent graduates with shopping and loading items into their vehicles.