School starts Wednesday in Hillsborough County. And with that — additional expenses for parents.
To help offset back-to-school costs, Wharton High School held a community outreach event to hand-deliver school supplies to students before the first day of school.
On Monday, about 100 teachers and professors loaded five school buses with nearly 400 backpacks full of supplies: binders, rulers, pens, markers, highlighters and glue sticks.
Gabrielle Paul
/
WUSF Public Media
About 75 households were contacted in advance, based on their residence in zip codes near two feeding schools, Belle Witter Elementary and Adams Middle School.
The buses were loaded with about 200 pre-packaged binders to account for high school students and school-aged siblings at each address.
Manager Michael Rowen said the goals for the day were two-fold.
“One is because our kids need school supplies,” he said through a microphone in the school cafeteria.
The second: to better understand the family life of students who travel by bus to the New Tampa campus for an hour each way.
The high school’s attendance zoning extends as far south as Busch Gardens, including many North Tampa households.
Nasia Clark-Williams, the high school’s vice principal, said the event was designed to offset the cost of school supplies for parents and give teachers a window into their students’ daily lives.
Gabrielle Paul
/
WUSF Public Media
Ahead of the first day of school on Wednesday, Clark-Williams said it’s important for teachers to empathize with circumstances that could prevent a student from being on time and preparing for class.
Jennifer Summers, who heads the high school’s English department, said she appreciated feeling closer to students’ perspectives.
“It’s nice to start seeing these kids in their own environment,” Summers said, adding that many students can’t get to high school other than taking the school bus.
On board the buses, teachers shared their experiences paying for school supplies for their students.
Summers said for the coming year, she’s been using her own money for necessities like Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer.
ESE teacher Stephanie Helton said teachers typically receive about $200 from the state to stock their classrooms year-round. With that, she says, she can afford pencils.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay area for WUSF. She is also a member of the Report for America body. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
