GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — As the new school year approaches, many teachers are busy getting their classrooms ready.
School funding typically doesn’t fund the extras needed to personalize a classroom. So teachers have long spent their own money on extra supplies, but a social media trend is offering help to the educators.
Some teachers in the area are taking part in the “Clear the List” effort.
Brittney Priebe is a teacher in Northeast Wisconsin and is going into her eighth year teaching.
“I started off teaching high school Spanish and then ventured into elementary teaching bilingual and then moved into a monolingual classroom,” said Priebe.
Priebe is also a single mother. She says being a teacher helped her become the mom she is for her son.
“I learned a lot about younger kids,” said Priebe. “Then I could bring that into raising my son.”
Priebe is just one of the many teachers around the state, and nationwide, with an Amazon wish list for her classroom this year.
She says the financial burden of trying to fund her own classroom, can be overwhelming, especially on a single income.
“It can be a struggle sometimes to want equitable things for all my students,” said Priebe. “Often times students come from circumstances where they aren’t provided everything.”
According to TeachMama.com, back in 2019, an elementary school teacher in Texas started the “Clear the List” movement.
“This is the first time I’ve seen the trend on Instagram and different social media platforms,” said Priebe.
“Clear the List” means the community comes together to do what it can to support education by purchasing some of the items on teacher wish lists.
Teachers will make the list, filled with items they want for their classroom, and then share it on social media.
“I have received a set of classroom headphones which makes a world of difference,” said Priebe. “Received different magnets, different cubby bins, some books I received.”
Sarah Matheson, a first year teacher, will be teaching second grade at Rock Ledge Primary Center in Seymour. She says teachers spend a lot of their own personal money to decorate and buy extra supplies for their classrooms.
“I do have a budget, but I far exceeded that budget already,” said Matheson.
She is also hopping on the “Clear the List” trend.
“It’s a really great opportunity for other people to get involved with schools in a way where they don’t necessarily sign up as a volunteer,” said Matheson.
Priebe says it truly takes a whole community to raise a child.
“Teaching and education is an extension of that,” said Priebe.
If you’re a teacher and would like to take part in “Clear the List,” you can follow the instructions Amazon put on Twitter last August.
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