PRESS RELEASE –UNITED WAY OF NORTHEAST MICHIGAN
Have you begun to see the sales of school supplies in stores recently? Back to school season is here!
While the upcoming school year will look different for all of us, there’s one thing that is for certain: the need for supplies remains.
In our area, many students will begin the first day of school without the supplies they need to learn.
Yet, here is the good news: research shows that when students are equipped with the tools they need to succeed – they flourish. By providing essential school supplies for teachers and students alike, we can create environment where teachers can focus on teaching and learners have equal opportunity to learn.
In a recent Impact Report by Kids in Need Foundation, close to 9,000 educators were surveyed about the role school supplies play in their teaching. Here is what 95% of those teachers surveyed offered:
Access to free supplies for students is critical or very important to creating a more equal learning environment for their students.
In fact, one 6th grade teacher shared: “When every student has what they need, it promotes an equal learning environment…providing opportunities for academic and social success.”
Though it might be easy to think that a notebook, a pack of pencils, or markers are only a drop in the bucket when it comes to greater needs, being equipped with these tools has a profound impact on a students’ social, emotional, and academic performance. Thus, when a student has supplies for the first time in their life – doors of possibility open.
Want to be a part of success stories like this? You can support the United Way of Northeast Michigan’s – Stuff the Bus, school supplies drive and campaign scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday 7/31, 8/1 & 8/2. The Bus will be parked at Walgreens and volunteers will accept your donations of supplies or financial donations that will be used to purchase school supplies for students in grade 6th through grade 12. For more information contact the United Way office at (989) 354-2221 or visit their facebook page or website www.unitedwaynemi.org.
Joe Gentry, Executive Director