East Longmeadow Waste and Recycling Coordinator Elizabeth Bone (second from left) shows Tools 4 Teaching team members the recycling system at East Longmeadow’s Mountain View Elementary School.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo by Chris Williams
It started with a conversation between commission members. Elizabeth Bone and Dawna Jenne, both members of the Longmeadow Recycling Commission, were speaking one day when Jenne told Bone about her work with Springfield Public Schools’ Tools 4 Teaching, a nonprofit that organizes the donation of gently used school supplies to Springfield teachers.
The conversation sparked an idea for Bone. In her work as East Longmeadow’s waste and recycling coordinator, Bone decided to organize a recycling initiative through East Longmeadow Public Schools to donate to Tools 4 Teaching, she explained.
At the end of every school year, there is a “tremendous amount of waste” that is disposed of from each school as a result of students and staff eliminating unused or slightly used materials, Bone told Reminder Publishing, explaining that this was typical for an “end of school year clean out.”
She estimated that the practice produces approximately 2,000 pounds of extra waste on top of the typical waste from each school building, stating that schools will usually request an additional trash pickup to accommodate the waste.
To help put this waste to good use, Bone organized with East Longmeadow school principals and custodians during May to place cardboard boxes in the town’s public schools for students and staff to donate items instead of throwing them out, she said.
Three weeks later, Bone collected 20 full boxes of supplies; pens, pencils, crayons, markers, notebooks, binders, maps, posters, math counting blocks; across three schools, “packed” them into her vehicle and donated them to Tools 4 Teaching, she stated.
Her work to collect the supplies helped to reduce the financial burden of adding educational materials to 86 Springfield teachers’ classrooms, Tools 4 Teaching Director Chris Williams said. The teachers collected their desired materials at Tools 4 Teaching’s August opening on Aug. 15.
This is the third year that Bone has worked with Tools 4 Teaching through her recycling initiative.
While other schools have donated in the past, this year’s supplies came from teachers and students at Birchland Park Middle School, East Longmeadow High School and Mountain View Elementary School.
Springfield’s Tools 4 Teaching nonprofit was first initiated in 2010 when a group of 10 retiring teachers decided they didn’t want to throw out the materials from their classrooms, proposing a swap event among Springfield teachers to their union, Williams explained. The swap ran twice a year for three years, allowing teachers to gift and receive needed materials for their classrooms.
In 2013, with support from Springfield city officials, Tools 4 Teaching moved to a physical location at 70 Tapley St. after the organization’s work was “so well received” by teachers, Williams said. At the location, the nonprofit began hosting monthly openings, allowing any Springfield teacher to take new and gently used materials for no cost.
Teachers spend approximately “$600 to $1,000 [out of pocket] per year to enhance their classrooms,” Williams emphasized, stating that Tools 4 Teaching’s work helps to save teachers money while reducing the impact of waste on local landfills.
Openings are offered from 3-5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month to any Springfield Public School teacher with an ID. Teachers are able to take as many used items as they want and up to two new items, which are purchased by Tools 4 Teaching through an annual $5,000 grant from the Massachusetts Teachers Association, Williams stated.
“All they need is a Springfield Public Schools ID and a desire to save a lot of money,” Williams said.
Donated items include science equipment, math books, tactile materials and other items to support the “diverse” needs of Springfield students, Williams explained. In addition to donations from other teachers, the organization also receives supplies from local families and businesses. Due to the nature of the needed teaching equipment, many items are tailored to the elementary level.
Williams noted the intense stress that many new teachers experience with the increased responsibilities following the coronavirus pandemic. She highlighted that, as an organization of retired teachers, the Tools 4 Teaching team is able to “listen with empathy” and “connect [with the teachers] on all spectrums of teaching.”
She emphasized that the Tools 4 Teaching team was dedicated to their work to support fellow teachers and reduce the strain on landfills, noting that the team’s eldest member was 89 years old.
“This intercommunity connection of teachers and their advocates attests to the collaborative, nurturing nature of the teaching profession and those who appreciate its contribution to society,” Williams said. “Thanks to [Bone] and the thoughtful East Longmeadow teachers, new SPS teachers will begin their year with treasures for their classrooms and more money in their first paychecks.”
For more information about Tools 4 Teaching or to inquire about donations, contact Williams by email at chrisew76@gmail.com. Treasurer Sue Fielding can also be contacted at sfielding0714@yahoo.com. For marketing inquiries, contact Jenne at dawnajenne@gmail.com. Both items and money can be donated to the organization. Checks can be made out to Springfield Education Association, 450 Cottage St. Suite 5, Springfield, MA 01104, Attention: Sue Fielding.
Updates on the nonprofit’s openings are also available on its Facebook page at facebook.com/tools4teachingma. September’s opening took place on Sept. 19, according to the organization.
