The city of San Marcos partnered with The Teacher Reuse to provide them a new space at 1040 Hwy. 123.
How we got here
The nonprofit opened temporarily next to the Hays CISD central administration buildings located at 21009 I-35 in August 2022.
Three months later, The Teacher Reuse relocated to 3700 Kyle Crossing but could not stay long due to high rent costs, according to founder Shelly O'Donnell.
"As a nonprofit, we just didn't have enough funds to pay for that, so we went into storage from November to July, and we were working out of a storage unit, and that was not feasible," O'Donnell said.
The backstory
Being a retired teacher herself, O'Donnell recalled purchasing classroom supplies with money out of her own pocket, and after seeing a Facebook post from The Welman Project, a nonprofit based in Fort Worth, she felt inspired to open The Teacher Reuse.
"I wanted to give back to teachers," she said.
The Teacher Reuse has a wide range of teacher supplies, including bulletin board borders, toys, pencils, pens, organization materials, posters, games, puzzles and more to supply teachers and their classrooms.
How it works
Public and private school teachers interested in sifting through supplies for their classrooms can register online by uploading their school IDs. Due to space, educators will need to make an appointment between 8 a.m.-1 p.m., where they will have one hour to shop.
"We would love to give to home schools and church schools and so forth, but we don't have a way to verify it. If they charge a tuition, then they're not a nonprofit," she said.
The impact
The Teacher Reuse has served a number of teachers throughout Central Texas, including San Marcos CISD, and Comal, New Braunfels, Round Rock and San Antonio ISDs.
"They're coming from all over because they know, even if they just shop one day, they can save up to a thousand dollars, and why not? The supplies are just sitting there, and if we can keep [them] out of the landfill and [send them] into a classroom, teachers are willing to come from all over to shop," she said.
All items are barcoded, so as teachers check out they can go home with a dollar amount that they saved.
Amanda Busselman, a teacher at Comal ISD picked up several items including games to help her students with phonics for math and literary concepts, science experiments and cleaning supplies. She ended up saving $250.
"This is amazing," Busselman said.
Amber Johnson, a pre-K teacher at San Marcos CISD, said she picked up items for her art and science centers and small groups.
"I really had no idea what to expect, and I actually didn't think I was [going to] be able to find anything [because] I know a lot of people had already been coming, and so I thought it was going to be picked over. If I would have had longer, I would have gotten more," Johnson said. "I feel like once the year starts and I see what I need, I can come back and be more mindful of these things."
512-202-5632. www.theteacherreuse.org
