Residents of the Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1 are invited to help teachers and students by purchasing school supplies.
Although they are among the lowest-paid teachers in Colorado, for years local educators have been spending large amounts of their own money to buy supplies for their students, so they will have the tools they need to learn.
From Aug. 1 through Aug. 15, supplies can be dropped off at Citizens State Bank at Main and Chestnut in Cortez. The supplies will be divided among all the schools in the Re-1 District, including Battle Rock and Southwest Open School.
The school supply drive is sponsored by the Adopt a Teacher project, which was created in 2011 to adopt teachers and help relieve some of the financial burden on them. The supplies most needed are:
Expo low-odor dry-erase markers and erasers for white boards
No. 2 pencils
Small pencil sharpeners
Pencil top erasers, other erasers
Copy paper (for work sheets, art work, tests, instructions, notices, etc.)
Single-subject spiral notebooks
Composition books
1-inch three-ring binders
Loose-leaf paper (college or wide ruled)
Dividers
Construction paper
Graph paper
Colored pencils
Pocket folders (with or without clasps)
Highlighters
Glue sticks and school glue
Post-it notes
Tape and tape dispensers
Items to use as awards for achievement
Kleenex
The middle school also is in need of used band instruments for students whose families cannot afford to buy or rent them. The instruments most in demand are flutes, clarinets and trumpets. If you have used instruments, they also can be dropped off at the bank during the school supply drive.
There are about 200 teachers and more than 2,500 students in the district. The goal is to provide every teacher and student with some of the tools they need.
Later, there also will be opportunities for individual teachers to be adopted and let the community know what else is needed to help their students. Individuals, churches, organizations or businesses that would like to adopt one or more teachers, help a school library or help a specific school, or who need more information, may contact Judy Schuenemeyer, judyswsc@q.com or 565-7837.