CLIMAX TOWNSHIP, Mich. — In late August, kindergarten teacher Allison Charles received a letter from a teacher she’d never met thanking her for the Velcro tabs she bought for her classroom.
“It’s the neatest thing to get a 'thank you' or just know that you’re helping somebody,” Charles said during an interview with FOX 17 at Climax-Scotts Elementary, where she teaches. “It is rewarding and helpful to everyone.”
Charles said she was able to help the teacher and others by logging on to Twitter and clicking on the hashtag #ClearTheList. When she did that, hundreds of teachers tweets popped up about their requests for supplies.
“It started by teachers trying to support each other (teachers),” Charles said. “So they were taking the Amazon lists and sharing the links online.”
Charles said the hashtag was started in July by a teacher in Texas. Since then it's grown into a movement, hundreds of teacher using the hashtag to get items for their classrooms.
“It is a way for teachers to get things that are above and beyond in their classroom and to help support the learning environment for our students and students across the country,” said principal Teri Peters.
Peters loves the movement she said. At Climax-Scotts, the teachers are already equipped with the everyday necessities like markers, scissors and crayons among others. But, many other teachers aren’t so fortunate.
“Some teachers are really struggling to get the basics like pencils, paper, and rulers,” Peters said. “We don’t have that struggle here but we do want to enhance the learning. So we’ve had a lot of support from community to give added things that will enhance the learning environment for students.”
That was the focus of Charles’ list this year, she said. She put things like pillows on her Amazon wish list to help give her classroom a homely look and feel.
“I was kind of refreshing my room because of the environment being such a big part of what makes kids feel excited to be there,” Charles said. “I’m putting care into my room. And they recognize that I care for them and so they feel that.”
Charles said the #ClearTheList movement has no end date. She hopes when people see it on social media, that they’ll take a chance and click on it.
“Get involved in it,” she said. “I know that even if my list personally isn’t cleared, I feel extraordinarily good about being a part of the movement.”
