The Teacher Reuse Aims to Alleviate Out of Pocket Costs for Texas Educators

According to Adopt a Classroom, public school teachers spent an average of $860 last year out of pocket on classroom supplies. Having taught for over 25 years, retired educator Shelly O'Donnell has seen the need for supplies firsthand.

That's why she founded The Teacher Reuse, a 501(c)(3) organization in Central Texas that serves public and charter school educators. Its mission: "Teacher Reuse accepts donations of much-needed classroom resources and makes them available to our teachers at no cost. We encourage community responsibility for the welfare of schools by lessening the economic burden on teachers while encouraging recycling and reuse."

O'Donnell collects items from fellow retired educators, and she also does outreach to local businesses for supplies that are no longer needed. "A lot of these items would have otherwise been donated to Goodwill and sold to teachers," she says. Instead, The Teacher Reuse offers these supplies to educators with no limit on how much they can take, as long as they agree that the supplies are for their own use and will not be sold.

O'Donnell's vision for The Teacher Reuse began in Lockhart, where she spent the latter part of her career. With the blessing of her superintendent, she set up a hub one summer at a high school and invited educators to drop off and pick up supplies. "We put up a thermometer as a visual to show how much teachers were saving, and within the first three weeks, we had saved teachers $12,000." After retiring, O'Donnell founded The Teacher Reuse and leased a space in the Austin suburb of Kyle. The road to success hasn't always been smooth, however; the booming real estate market soon priced The Teacher Reuse out of Kyle. "We lost momentum when we had to move out, but the City of San Marcos stepped in and allowed us to open a space in town," O'Donnell says. The Teacher Reuse is now located at 1040 Hwy. 123 in San Marcos.

O'Donnell says the nonprofit still faces the hurdles of finding volunteers and securing grants. Despite these obstacles, The Teacher Reuse has gone on to serve educators throughout the state. So far, the nonprofit has served about 1,000 teachers and 72 school districts from San Antonio to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as well as Houston, Rockport, and Kerrville. Overall, it has saved teachers over $305,000.

The Teacher Reuse uses a barcode system to track inventory and savings. Each item is scanned, and before teachers leave, the point-of-sale system shows how much each teacher has saved on their supplies. Because there is no limit on how much teachers can take, they can potentially save over $1,000 on supplies they might have otherwise had to buy for themselves.

O'Donnell encourages educators from all around the state to check out The Teacher Reuse before starting on their Amazon wish lists. Her space in San Marcos is home to a wealth of classroom essentials, such as décor, storage and organization, lab supplies, and games.

The Teacher Reuse operates year-round, accepting supplies and monetary donations. Volunteer opportunities are also available for educators and students. Over the summer, the staff has been at work organizing the shop ahead of the 2024-25 school year. O'Donnell has a bigger vision for the Teacher Reuse down the road. She's hoping to offer summer programs for students someday, including Lego camps and STEM-focused workshops.

For now, she's ready to welcome teachers to the shop so they can stock up before the new school year starts. To learn more about The Teacher Reuse, visit theteacherreuse.org.