CINCINNATI — A school supply drive Saturday at Woodward Career Technical High School hopes to help children and parents deal with the rising price of school supplies.
A back-to-school supply list can cost close to $270, and a parent of three children who makes $15 an hour could spend a two-week paycheck on school supplies. Some parents don't have the money to spend on school supplies alone, though.
Some students who are experiencing homelessness get their lists and won't be able to get many supplies.
"Sometimes they can get those things and sometimes they cannot," Deidre Simpson, a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Evanston Academy, said. "Sometimes they can only get the bare minimum, not all of the things that are on the list."
Some teachers use their own money to buy as many supplies for their students as they can.
"I like to go above and beyond, because I want the children to be engaged, and it's imperative for me to build critical-thinking skills, so I will often spend money," Simpson said. "I like for science to come alive. I like it to be fun..."
While the school provides as many supplies as it can, the school supply drive at Woodward High School helps meet the needs of students and classrooms.
"We rely on these donations, not just as educators, but the students rely on the donations because they want to not only come prepared, but they also want to come feeling adequate, feeling equal and feeling as though they are part of the whole, of the mass," Simpson said.
The supply drive runs from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday outside Woodward Career Technical High School. Click here to see a list of supplies needed.
