In Bay County, all first-year teachers have the opportunity to stock up for success: Lysol wipes, bulletin board stuff, scissors, Band-Aids, flexible seating cushions, bookmarks, pencils, pens, paper, spinner toys, treasure box items, toys and yes, … wait for it, wait for it … candy!
This new cashless sanctuary, called the Adrianna Swearingen Teacher Resource Store, is located at Rutherford High School, near the corner of East 11th and School Avenue. No fence jumping involved. Go to the gate. Call the number. Identify yourself. And a volunteer first-year teacher will walk outside and escort you inside to the shop-’til-you-drop oasis.
Adrianna Swearingen, a media specialist at Northside Elementary in Panama City, was the 2023 Florida teacher of year.
The resource store is available to more than 200 new teachers, and that the program is funded by a $60,000 grant, Sharon Michalik, the communications director for Bay District Schools, said.
“The idea is just to help new teachers not have to spend money out of pocket to get the things they need for their classroom,” Michalik said.
But a $100 welcome-to-the-teaching-family coupon will only go so far. If new teachers need more Lysol wipes after their second week of class, and heaven forbid, candy, they’ll have to work for it. Bay District Schools calls it volunteering.
Michalik said teachers earn a $50 coupon for every hour volunteered at the store, and that it takes at least two volunteers to open the store for business.
For more information about the Adrianna Swearingen Teacher Resource Store, or to become a donor, contact [email protected]
