Back to School

So, even though we still have about six weeks left in this term, I was thinking about back to school after the long rainy season. Then I was thinking about back to school in America.

American back to school time is my favorite time of year. WalMarts are filled with all of the students, unexcited to go back, the parents, unexcited to be in a WalMart, and me, excited all around. There are so many things arranged in rainbow order, the smell of glue and paper in the air...

And I was thinking about the sales. How for a dollar, you can get an entire pack of crayola markers, or ten packs of notebook paper.

So, if you or anyone you know is doing back to school shopping this year, think about this.

If everyone I know fills one standard weight shipping box (cost to send about $50-60) with school supplies, they will last my school years and years beyond my tenure here. So, if you're up for it, here are the things that are most useful to my school and the teachers within it.

- Markers - good crayola ones, thin and thick.
- CONSTRUCTION PAPER - Impossible to get in this country but SUPER important.
- Lined notebook paper
- Glue - not glue sticks, but elmer's in a bottle. Glue sticks dry out in like a day during dry season.
- SCISSORS - both big teachers pair and LOTS of small kids pairs. My dream is to make a class set so students can actually use them, but classes have like forty or more kids...
- Pens and pencils - less important than the above things, but nonetheless important.
- Dictionaries. I know these will be hard to send, but most kids don't know how to use one/have never seen one. Beyond that, I think they would be helpful for teachers.
- Books - used, new, any children's book are appreciated. See below.
- People here love certificates. If you can find blank "Certificates of Achievement" or "Certificates of Accomplishment" or whatever, they'd be great to have.
- Page protectors - I'm working on using some dry erase markers I have to make worksheets reusable, so putting them in page protectors is like the same as laminating them. If you have any of these lying around, send them.
- Prizes - any prizes that children would like. Colorful erasers or pencils, anything you can buy for cheap in a big pack that kids might like.

I also just painted a giant world map on the wall of the library, and I want to teach students a little more about the rest of the world, of which they know nothing! I was thinking about reading them books from other countries scattered throughout the world. I have West African books, and I have books from America and England, but none from anywhere else. So, if you can find books from Scandinavia, Indonesia, Patagonia, or Antarctica, I'll take ANYTHING!

And while you're at it, if you want to send me Clif Bars, raw almonds, and/or candy of any kind, I'd accept it. :)

Thanks in advance!