A new journey

More than 40 recent Wright State University teacher 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.

Abby Harris, who graduated from Wright State this spring and landed a teaching position at Morgan Education Services in Centerville, said the opportunity helped ease the stress of starting a new job.

“It’s an amazing partnership,” said Harris, who filled an entire shopping cart with supplies. “It truly supplies the majority of my classroom.”

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 fourth year, the partnership has provided over $123,000 worth of school supplies to Wright State teacher education graduates, said Malena Ball, marketing manager at Crayons to Classrooms.

“I wish we had something like this when I was a first-year teacher,” 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.