What really needs to go in the backpack...

So I've calmed down a bit about the school supply issue. I used to work in the public school system and know that it is far from perfect! Our teachers need all the help they can get. I came across this article in the yesterday's paper. I couldn't find it online so I'm including it in my post. It made me proud to be giving my best efforts to teaching my children and know that their future teachers really appreciate what I do at home.

"Put values, not just supplies, in backpack"
By Deedee Abaroa
published in the Gilbert Republic, 8-2-08

"My dollars are being spread thinner and stretched more than I can recall in my 50years of memory. The need to keep gas tanks, freezers and pantries filled is only pulling the Spandex dollar to an uncomfortable and unpredictable strain. As many parents are, I am filling my sons' well-worn school backpacks from last year (hoping the zippers will hold out a bit longer) with supplies that the schools struggle to provide. The supply lists include basic needs of paper, pencils and folders with bonus requests of facial tissue, cleaning wipes and antibacterial gel. All these items are critical for a healthy learning environment.

As an educator for more than a quarter of a century, I am hoping for a different sort of supply list, one that includes the pencil, the ream of paper and the folders but with a few extras that won't cost a penny more. This supply list also creates a healthy learning environment. How great it would be to have the stomachs of children free from hunger, worry, stress, or illnesses? How much more could a student accomplish if his or her own soul had been nourished with validating love, esteem and support? How amazing our educational communities would be if children could attend less indulged with needless fluff, could come to school from families with positive traditions,could arrive from homes where leadership actually leads rather than timidly submits to children's whims and wishes!

Being a teacher with a history in kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms, I can tell immediately those children whose backpacks are lined with love, packed with promise and filled with a firm foundation of self-worth. I always anticipate the first day of school to see how many of these little people with polite manners I can build and nurture while under my care. But alarmingly, more and more are coming with backpacks that are empty of encouragement and missing the morals of civility. Those are the children that will consume my thoughts, worries and time for the next school year, if not more.

Let's start the school year putting values back in the backpacks. I promise that schoolrooms will be well-stocked with the supplies that really make a difference, without adding more stress to the already thinning dollar."

I love this!! It makes me feel so good about what I am trying to teach in my home. Feel free to share this with anyone. We all need validation from each other! Good luck in lining those little backpacks with love!