PTO to furnish NSES school supplies
By Donnie A. Lucas
Parents of students attending Nancy Smith Elementary are going to find the cost of sending children back to school will be lower this year.
The Albany PTO is furnishing all school supplies needed for Pre-K and Head Start through sixth grade this year.
“This is something that the officers decided would be a big help to both parents and teachers,” PTO president Ragan Riley said. “We were looking for a way to use some of our proceeds to help out, and this idea was proposed. We plan to designate the projects from the Fall Fest every year to continue to provide school supplies for all children at that campus.”
Riley works for ResourceCare in Albany, which has provided an Adopt a Buddy program in the past for some students whose parents needed assistance with back-to-school expenses.
“We think this will save all parents about $50 per child in expenses,” she said. “Parents will only need to provide a backpack, water bottle, and any personalized items such as pencil cases if they choose to.”
Some older elementary students may also need to furnish ear buds or a mouse for computer classes.
Riley said that supplies based on each teacher’s list and the number of students in each class will be purchased in bulk and furnished to the teachers to hand out as needed.
She added that members of the PTO will gather Aug. 10 at the grade school to sort and deliver supplies to each classroom.
“We hope this will be a win-win situation,” she said. “Each teacher will receive exactly the supplies they specify, and all students will have exactly the same supplies as everyone else in the class.”
Riley said that by purchasing all supplies in bulk, some teachers will be able to take advantage of special teacher sets for consistency, rather than students having various brands or types of supplies.
The PTO is accepting donations from parents or businesses who want to help with the project. Contact Riley for more information.
There will also be a meeting of PTO officers on Monday, July 17 at the high school campus to finalize other projects and events for the coming school year.
“Our goal is to have a list of projects and dates to hand out during Meet the Teacher,” she said. “We will have a finalized schedule for parents and teachers of all projects for the year.”
