The Henderson Kentucky Teacher Store is off to a quick start, gathering thousands of likes on social media and already raising $25,000, all for the goal of providing free supplies to Henderson County teachers.
The group coordinating the new venture is currently planning for what the teacher store will look like, including the supplies teachers will want the store to include, said Marcos Nicolas, Jr., a member of the coordinating team.
The teacher store is a project that has come from a group of the most recent graduating class of the Henderson Leadership Initiative, which finished its yearlong planning and groupwork with a January graduation. The group consists of Winston Chaney, Shawna Harrington, Tyler Comer, Adam Blythe, Maggie Whitledge, Katie Kirkwood and Nicolas.
Soon after graduation, their plans were set into action. A Facebook page was created in mid-February and it quickly amassed followers—2,100 friends by the end of the month, with 1,400 of them coming in the first 48 hours it was live, according to the page.
Additionally, the group is already halfway to its $50,000 goal, said Nicolas.
“Henderson is a really giving town to our school system,” Nicolas said. “Everybody understands the needs of our teachers.”
To be able to accept tax-deductible funding, the committee partnered with the Henderson Kentucky Education Foundation, a certified nonprofit organization. Patty Sellers, the director of development for HKEF, said she’d met with teacher store group members and was happy to welcome them under the umbrella of HKEF’s 501(c)3.
She said HKEF had discussed doing something similar in the past, but recently it has had other issues come up, including taking over as the local affiliate of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and securing engagement grants for teachers. The HKEF also funded the creation of hot spots in the community in 2021, during COVID, when students needed the ability to access wi-fi, she said.
Sellers, a former teacher at Bend Gate Elementary School and former principal at Niagara Elementary School, said a 2020 survey administered by HKEF found that one of the top concerns of local teachers and school staff is the amount of personal money they spend to do their work.
“We know that there are times that teachers just run out of things,” she said. When that happens, they either do without or use their own money, she said.
She said that the access to supplies will allow teachers to use engaging activities in the classroom and “should be a morale builder.”
Nicolas said Henderson County Schools has agreed to allow the store to be located at Central Academy. Teachers from all public K-12 and Holy Name School will be allowed to use the store, he said, adding that he hopes it will include teachers who work at private daycares in the future.
He said the teacher store should be open in July.
Teachers will be given a set amount of points to use at the store, and they will be allowed to obtain what they want so long as they stay within their point allotment, Nicolas said. He said items at the store will be “priced” by a number of points, and teachers could obtain as many items as their total points would allow.
He said the group has sent a survey to teachers, asking what they want the store to be stocked with.
Nicolas said teachers will be given a point allotment each quarter.
“This is for free,” Nicolas said. “No cost to teachers whatsoever.”
