The last two years have been hard on everyone due to the pandemic. Teachers were heavily impacted by the pandemic, and a Tik Tok trend called Devious Licks made it hard on them to get classroom supplies. The Devious Licks trend encouraged students to steal things from teachers and their classrooms.

Teachers are in constant need of supplies for their classes and classrooms. One new way to help teachers is a Facebook page that started from The Real Ladies of Loudoun. This program is called Adopt-a-Teacher, and it gives people the opportunity to help teachers by donating needed and wanted supplies on their wishlist, which has boosted morale for many.

“When I posted my list, I got most of what I really wanted.” English teacher Paige Illig said. “I asked for staplers because last year when there was that Tik Tok trend, Devious Licks, my stapler got stolen.”

The Adopt-a-Teacher program has helped teachers save money for other things they’d like to buy for their classrooms instead of having to spend it all on essentials like pencils, paper, notebooks, and more.

Teachers have already received many supplies from the program, such as paper and pencils, cereal bars, notebooks, colored pencils, expo markers and much more. A lot of supplies for the art room were donated as well.

“Amazing paint markers, clay texturizers, tons of drawing pen sets, canvases and containers to hold art supplies” Art teacher Kyla Jenkins said. “Our fine arts parents are so generous!”

Before the Adopt-a-Teacher program was created, teachers had to buy a lot of their own supplies that weren’t already provided by the school. Some had come to accept having to buy their own supplies, but for some districts it can be a hardship.

When it comes to the school not providing certain supplies for teachers, English teacher Shawn Simms explained that she thinks everything has a budget and the people that make decisions aren’t classroom teachers.

“I think it’s people who have an overview of what the budget needs are,” Simms said. “There has to be a limit to some things and those things become teacher supplies.”

“Teachers don’t make much as is, and the underfunding that some areas experience breaks my heart,” Jenkins said. “Education is truly the most valuable thing we should be investing in.”

Simms believes the school could be spending money on supplies and equipment that would directly benefit students or teachers.

“Some of the supplies that appear at the school don’t directly benefit students in the classroom. I see a lot of materials for athletics or technology, and new desks in the science wing. I didn’t have a teacher’s desk this year, so I had to scrounge up to find a teacher’s desk,” Simms said. “I had to buy my own chair. So how do I feel about it? Mostly accepting but sometimes disappointed.”

For the teachers who didn’t participate in the Adopt-a-Teacher program, they are still given money from the Teacher Classroom Supplies Allotment funded by the school to buy supplies for their classrooms. Returning teachers receive $100 and new teachers receive $250.

This was started last year due to COVID and to give appreciation to the returning and new teachers.

“We just really want to emphasize and say we’re so happy that you came back, we’re so happy that you’re joining our team,” financial Technician Darla Palombia said. “We really appreciate you sticking with us getting through everything.”