School starts Wednesday in Hillsborough County. And with it — extra expenses for parents.
To help offset back-to-school costs, Wharton High School organized a community outreach event to hand-deliver school supplies to students ahead of the first day of school.
On Monday, around 100 teachers and faculty loaded five school buses with close to 400 backpacks chock-full of supplies: binders, rulers, pens, markers, highlighters and glue sticks.
Around 75 households were contacted ahead of time, based on their residence in ZIP codes near two feed-in schools, Belle Witter Elementary and Adams Middle School.
Buses were loaded with around 200 pre-packed bookbags to account for high-schoolers and school-aged siblings at each address.
Principal Michael Rowen said the goals of the day were two-fold.
"One is because our kids need schools supplies," he said through a microphone at the high school cafeteria.
The second: to better understand the home lives of students who bus to the New Tampa campus an hour each way.
Attendance zoning for the high school extends as far south as Busch Gardens, including many north Tampa households.
Nasia Clark-Williams, assistant principal of the high school, said the event was designed to offset the cost of school supplies for parents and give teachers a window into their students' day-to-day life.
Ahead of the first day of school on Wednesday, Clark-Williams said it's important for teachers to sympathize with the circumstances that might keep a student from being on time and prepared for class.
Jennifer Summers, who heads the high school's English department, said she appreciated feeling closer to the students' perspectives.
"It's nice to start seeing these kids in their own environment," Summers said, adding that many students can't make it to high school aside from taking the school bus.
Onboard the buses, teachers shared their experiences paying for school supplies for their students.
Summers said for the upcoming year, she's used her own money on necessities like Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer.
ESE teacher Stephanie Helton said teachers typically receive around $200 from the state to stock their classrooms year-round. With that, she said, she can afford pencils.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. She's also a Report for America corps member. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
