BRYAN, Texas — Classrooms may be empty now, but in a few weeks teachers will have their hands full as students return for the new school year.
Educators are working to create the classroom experience with all the supplies teachers need for the school year. However, since the rising of back-to-school supplies, teachers are getting savvy in an effort to cut costs.
Natosha Collins is a first and second grade teacher Arrow Academy. She elaborated on how Amazon wish lists became her go-to method for decorating her classroom last year.
"The first day of school, we will have it all together," said Collins. "Do an amazon lists, they're are people that want to give and people in the community want to give back, use what you have in the classroom and the school to do what you need to do."
An educator's mantra is always doing what they have to with whatever they have, according to Collins. As she budgets accordingly for this upcoming year, she encourages people to donate to any teacher's classrooms if they can.
Ahead of the start of the new school year, Collins has partnered with another teacher at Arrow Academy to create another Amazon wish list to achieve the same goal, because according to her, "we're all in this together."
"Everything I got last year on the Amazon list, I still have that," Collins noted. "It could be something like five dollars, we put everything a lot of stuff on there so if you feel the need to give...Anybody's wish list, I mean you should give."
Collins's tie-dye painted room stands out when compared to other classrooms, but she is always looking for different items that could excite kids about returning to school.
"It's always geared toward the kids but this year for incentives some extra things we need in our classroom."
Now, they're already getting items like books and other classroom essentials, and Collins is pushing this idea for new teachers to budget for their own classrooms.
As Collins looks forward to a bright school year, she looks to make it filled with color and passion that will empower her students to also dive headfirst into what they are learning.
Click here to donate to her Amazon wish list.
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