By C.J. Vetter
BUDA - Have you ever looked around your house and asked what you're going to do with all that miscellaneous stuff you have lying around? Golf balls, staplers, scraps and googly eyes typically don’t get much attention. But teachers are eager to get their hands on them, and the Teacher Reuse is stepping in to help.
Teachers spend between $750 and $1,000 a year to supply their classrooms, and every year, many teachers are left with a bin full of supplies they don’t know what to do with. That’s where Teacher Reuse comes in.
Founded in 2022, the Teacher Reuse is a nonprofit centered around garnering teachers with the supplies they need to not only make their classroom function, but also bring it to life. Being able to give children a place where they feel at home is important, and making them feel “wowed” is beneficial to the learning environment, according to founder Shelly O’Donnell, who recently retired after 25 years of teaching.
“When I was teaching high school, one of my students said, ‘Mrs. O'Donnell, your room looks like a math class’ and I said, what does that even mean?” O'Donnell said. “[He said], ‘there is nothing on your walls, nothing to look at.’”
The Teacher Reuse accepts all forms of donations, but especially seeks out materials that they can directly give to educators. Teachers are welcome to come to their pop-up stands or contact them in order to receive free supplies of their choice. Monetary donations will be put toward operational costs.
“Right now, we have a storage unit that is almost full and we’re probably ready for our second storage unit,” O’Donnell said. “But there is no money exchanged. We are going to hand this off directly to teachers for free.
The idea of the nonprofit originated in Lockhart, where O’Donnell participated in a successful district-level program. Following her move to Buda, she was able to find like-minded individuals and establish the Teacher Reuse, but with a much larger goal of serving Central Texas.
They have already attended events like Buda’s Market in the Park, and are ready to support local educators. O’Donnell also encourages any former students to donate as a way to give back to their teachers.
“I still have students that reach out to me, and thank me for being so hard on them and not just letting them slip through the cracks because it got them to a better place,” O’Donnell said.
For a full list of acceptable donations, directions on how to receive supplies, and ways to volunteer, visit www.theteacherreuse.org.
