Teacher Crystal Hoadley is helping other teachers with out-of-pocket school supplies expenses through Sunshine Supplies for Teachers.
Transcripted by AI with human editing for readability
Randy Eccles:
This is Community Voices. I'm co-host Randy Eccles. Today, a member of the community from over in the eastern part of the listening area. We're talking with Crystal Hoadley. She's from Forsyth, I believe. Welcome to Community Voices.
Crystal Hoadley:
Thank you for having me.
Randy Eccles:
Crystal, We've brought you in here to talk about an interesting concept that you've come up with called Sunshine Supplies for Teachers.
Crystal Hoadley:
Yes.
Randy Eccles:
What is that?
Crystal Hoadley:
It's a nonprofit that I started. We're celebrating our first year anniversary. We have had our free store for teachers open for a year. I've been an educator for over 19 years, taught middle school science. I needed a lot of different items for those science lessons. Sometimes the school would be able to pay for some of those items, but others I'd come up with on a whim and based on my students, things that they were needing to learn. I would go out and purchase a lot of my supplies on my own. That stacks up after a while, and it costs a lot. I knew that it was best for my students because they enjoyed it and they enjoyed learning different things. I am now part-time as an instructional coach for the Regional Office of Education in Macon and Piatt County. I got a chance to go out and speak with other teachers. We have so many teachers that are spending so much money on supplies to the point where some of these teachers are leaving the profession because they can't afford it. As we know, teachers don't make a whole lot, unfortunately.
Randy Eccles:
That seems to have become the de facto way that it works. I don't know teachers who don't buy supplies to at least decorate their classroom with informative displays. Also, just for almost any learning event.Iis it that bad in the education system that we don't fund the necessities?
Crystal Hoadley:
It's not so much that we just don't fund them. It's there is such a great need for so many different things. We have a lot of students who come to school without just those basic supplies. It could be financial reasons at home. They just can't afford them. So our schools are covering those basic needs. We have many students that don't come to school because they don't have personal hygiene resources at home. Our schools are trying to have those kinds of things in the school for those kids so that they come to school because attendance has become an issue.
As our nonprofit has opened this free store, we're trying to fill those voids hopefully be able to get some of those kiddos the things that they need because our teachers are paying for a lot of those things. We have so many kids that come to school that haven't eaten in over 24 hours. Teachers are buying snacks for them so that they're ready to learn. Our schools have become second homes or sometimes, unfortunately, a primary home that they just love being at because they have someone there to listen to them. Our teachers are wonderful. Our nonprofit wants to support our teachers and support our school districts, making sure those kids have a brighter future.
Randy Eccles:
Explain what this would be like for a teacher who needs some stuff for their classroom. What is it that they need most?
Crystal Hoadley:
A lot of people think that our teachers just need those basic supplies like pencils and crayons and things. Those are great because as we know, some children lose things. Those might fall on the floor or get lost, or markers dry up pretty quick. We have those basic supplies that they can come in and get.
We are surrounded by social media. Our teachers are constantly looking on various platforms for those cool, engaging lessons because technology has advanced so much and our kids see all those wonderful things and they want to explore their world. Teachers ask for all different kinds of things just to get those kiddos engaged. We have basic supplies in our store. Teachers can sign up for a membership for a yearly fee of $50. Each month they can come and shop. They have an account that they create online.
Randy Eccles:
So that's by teacher, not by school.
Crystal Hoadley:
By teacher. It's $50 per teacher. We are a legit store where our local Kroger has donated shelving and shopping carts. We have full-size shopping carts.
Randy Eccles:
You're learning retail at this point.
Crystal Hoadley:
Yes, I've learned so many different things. My college job at Old Navy back in the day is definitely paying off. They sign up for a $50 membership fee one time for the school year, then they get to come back every single month and shop.
Randy Eccles:
Is there a limit of once a month?
Crystal Hoadley:
Yeah, just once a month. But when they come in, all of our items on our shelves are free to them. Regardless of how much they cost, they're free. We do have limits on them because we can't have them taken. 100 markers – There are limits. As we have community support and we are able to get more and more items, we're able to raise those limits so those teachers can take more items.
Randy Eccles:
How can people help? How do you get those supplies?
Crystal Hoadley:
I look at my own home, I have all of these little McDonald's toys from the Happy Meals. I've got fidgets and things that my kids have outgrown that teachers would love to have in their treasure bins or incentive bins for their classroom. We had one teacher asking for a mini fridge because they were needing something in their classroom to store drinks and things for their kids. Our elementary teachers, they look for, those little McDonald's toys and little incentives for their kiddos. Then the middle school, high school teachers are looking more for Gatorade and things they can give for prize incentives to motivate those kiddos. Some of them are coming to school and they haven't eaten or other factors that are hindering them from their educational experiences.
Randy Eccles:
Trying to reduce the amount of friction in the classroom so that they have what they need, that makes sense.
Crystal Hoadley:
Yes.
Randy Eccles:
Do you teach middle school science?
Crystal Hoadley:
Yes, I taught middle school science for 19 years and then I stepped away from the classroom full-time because I wanted to start this idea of this nonprofit. I love helping educators. When I was full-time as a teacher, I was always coming up with this really cool lesson idea that maybe you want to try. I was the STEM teacher, so we did all kinds of things. I got the experience of writing lots of grants. As a nonprofit, you have to write grants. I've got that experience as well, but at the regional office, I'm an instructional coach now, so I get to go out and help these teachers. Maybe they're wanting some new lesson ideas. Maybe they're first-year teachers and they don't have that experience as to how you manage a classroom. It's nice because with the nonprofit, I can go out in the classroom and help a teacher and then see that they don't have something that they need and I can find it for them and ease. It’s that process of being in that classroom because our teachers deal with so many different things, we're wanting to be their cheerleaders.
Randy Eccles:
Every kid is a different challenge, right? I remember science classes, the best part of them were when you got to try things you'd never done. Beakers and flames and dissection. Are those the type of things that you might carry or are those paid for by the school?
Crystal Hoadley:
Especially science equipment, anything glass, is so expensive. We'll reach out to various companies that may have excess lab equipment that they can donate, beakers, test tubes, those kinds of things break very easily. When our kids get in there, they love that stuff. Our kids need so many more resources to do that hands-on learning because they really want it. They want to get out of those seats. They want to get away from those Chromebooks and computers and work with other people. There are many job-related skills that are associated with those activities.
Randy Eccles:
If you're going to be a leading influencer in the future, you've got to know how to do that stuff in 3D so you can videotape it and get it to your followers, right?
Crystal Hoadley:
Exactly. All of them are going to be YouTubers.
Randy Eccles:
Hopefully reality is more fun than the digital simulation, but we'll see how that goes. Do you have digital things or needs within Sunshine Supplies for Teachers?
Crystal Hoadley:
Yes, we take laptops, headphones. We take any type of STEM-related activities. If you've ever heard of Spheros or Lil Bits, or there's various technology components that go into teaching STEM and can also be incorporated into math and in other subject areas as well. People don't realize that they have things that could benefit a classroom in the best way.
Randy Eccles:
If you're trying to clear out stuff that's in good condition, it can be used, or does it need to be new?
Crystal Hoadley:
It does not have to be brand new, it just has to be gently used. We have volunteers that come in to help us process any donations. We ask that things are free of pet hair and things like that because we try to get those donations in and out onto our sales floor because everything's free. We get those out there as quickly as possible.
Randy Eccles:
If it's been sitting in the garage for a few years, dust it off, right?
Crystal Hoadley:
If you think that maybe it's outdated, if it's a laptop that needs some things updated, it probably would not be the best for us because we don't have the resources to pay for the updating of those things.
Randy Eccles:
You're a parent also, right?
Crystal Hoadley:
Yes.
Randy Eccles:
From your perspective as a parent, how do you see your kids getting their education? Are they getting the supplies they need in their classrooms?
Crystal Hoadley:
Yes. We have teachers that send us pictures of these resources that they pick up and they're using it in their classrooms. I write down and remember all of these different stories these teachers telling us about what's happening in their classrooms. We had one teacher that, somebody had donated a Squishmallow. Those are those nice little soft… We had a teacher pick up a Squishmallow and she had a student who was nonverbal. She could not get the student to talk. She got this Squishmallow from our store. She brought it into the classroom. That student picked it up and hugged it and started talking. It's amazing. You don't realize what things you could donate that can make such an impact on students, on our kids, on our future.
Randy Eccles:
It's tremendous work you're doing with Sunshine Supplies for Teachers. If someone wants to find out more about it, where would they go?
Crystal Hoadley:
They can find us on Facebook, Sunshine Supplies for Teachers NFP. That's where we post our updates and everything that's going on in real time. We also have our website. It's sunshinesuppliesforteachers.org and that gives you more information, That's also where teachers can sign up for a membership. Send us an email, sunshinesuppliesforteachers@gmail.com, if you have any questions. We are currently looking for sponsors. We have various sponsorship levels. Our biggest hurdle is keeping our store open and our lights on.
Randy Eccles:
Why is that a hurdle?
Crystal Hoadley:
We must pay for those things. Our rent space is about $3,000 a month. The utility prices have gone up as well. Those sponsorships, people donating monetary amounts, help us not only keep our store open and our lights on, but also enable us to purchase supplies that we don't get donated. We are looking for more sponsors at this point.
Randy Eccles:
The challenge is going to increase as we see decreases in grants and federal funding, and that's going to trickle down to the state funding and make the need even bigger for the donation of these supplies. Crystal Hoadley is the executive director of Sunshine Supplies for Teachers. Any last thing you'd like to leave us with?
Crystal Hoadley:
Our nonprofit is trying to bring that sunshine to our educational community. If you know a teacher in need, send them our way. If you want to become a sponsor and be part of our little sunshine mission, we would love that. If you're a business or a company with excess product you're trying to figure out a way to get rid of contact us.
Randy Eccles:
That's a tax write-off, right?
Crystal Hoadley:
Yes, and we would gladly accept it. There are so many things that go into our landfill, and we are all about sustainability and turning those things that were thought of as useless, and they're not. There are many ways that things can be used. Contact us today and make a difference.
Randy Eccles:
I saw that you taught astronomy. That would have been a class I would have loved to have.
Crystal Hoadley:
Oh, my goodness, I loved teaching astronomy.
Randy Eccles:
What did kids respond to the most? Did you get to take them to see an eclipse?
Crystal Hoadley:
We would do viewing nights. Or I’d tell the kiddos to be looking at the sky and we set up our own little viewers. I even went with my mom on a mission to garage sales to look for Lite-Brites.They would have a lesson where they would make constellations and we'd turn off the lights and they'd have to guess what constellation it was.
One thing in my classroom that I did not want was kiddos sitting in their seats just taking notes. Science is all around us and they must be up and interacting with it to understand it and to appreciate it.
Randy Eccles:
I appreciate what you're doing to help out teachers. I've known many who are paying out of their pocket for things in the classroom and $50 sounds like a reasonable amount to be able to go get stuff off the shelf
Crystal Hoadley:
We've had teachers walk away with $1,000 worth of school supplies in just one shopping trip. It's amazing and we're looking for people who want to be part of our mission.
Randy Eccles:
It makes a big difference in the classroom. Thank you, Crystal Hoadley. Sunshine Supplies for Teachers.
Crystal Hoadley:
Thank you so much for having me.
