Many North Texas students and teachers are about a week away from a return to class. In what has become a necessity across the country, many teachers create wish lists and seek help from the community to purchase school supplies for the coming year, hoping to ease their burden of paying out of pocket.
These ‘wish lists’ also include teachers in specialized units like special education. Sharolyn Irvin, an early childhood special education teacher in the Arlington Independent School District, said she's more than ready to return to the classroom.
“One of the teachers asked me today: Are you ready to be back? And I'm like, yeah, I would have been here all summer,” she said with a smile.
She is equally passionate about ensuring her special ed students, ages 3 to 5, have the tools they need to succeed. Faced with a dwindling personal supply budget, Irvin prioritizes needs as best she can.
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Hoping the public would be inclined to help fill the gaps, Irvin and her twin sister Shanna Edwards, who is also a special education teacher, posted their wish lists online, only to be criticized by would-be donors.
“When they look at our list, it's like we're questioned,” said Irvin.
Instead of support, she said she faced criticism over her unconventional school supplies.
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“We don’t really have the same school supplies that you would have as your first, second, third grader,” she said. “We need different things. My students all work on individualized goals, so it’s not like they all have the same goal to write their name or know their numbers 1-10. I have to meet them where they’re at.”
That means starting from scratch using educational toys that help with sensory-motor and fine-motor skills. Irvin said these learning tools help her meet each child exactly where they are.
Her young students, she said, sometimes have the mental capacity of a 6-month-old.
"Things as far as bubbles, cause-and-effect toys, put-in pull-out toys. There’s different things that we use that you’d think it’s a toy, but it’s not a toy,” she said. “They don't understand that bubble maker is the same as, like, a pen or a paper to these kids.”
The ultimate goal is to help prepare each child to be integrated into general education classes.
Irvin said it’s "disheartening" when she has come to expect lists from special education teachers are not cleared as quickly or as fully as teachers in general education classes.
Hoping to help special or general education teachers in and around the Hurst, Euless, and Bedford ISD who were struggling to clear their lists, Irvin and her sister launched the Facebook group: "Empower Local Educators' Wish Lists." The group has grown to more than 120 members.
Irvin wants to ensure first-year teachers and those returning to teaching have all the support they need.
“Our students are going to go into the community, so I would love to see a lot more community involvement,” she said. "Like, 'Hey, yes, I can pick up a $5 pack of pins off your list.’”
Otherwise, she and other educators will once again dip into their own pockets to ensure their students receive the supplies they need.
“If the community would help out a little, it would mean so much more,” said Irvin. “It would mean people care about us that they appreciate what we do.”
To help, check out the Facebook group here.
