DAYTON CRAYONS TO CLASSROOMS
Supporting Teachers and Their Students

Thousands of children come to class each day without the basic school supplies they need to be successful. Since many parents can’t afford these items themselves, teachers often reach into their own pockets, as much as $500 and $1,000 per year, to help provide their students with needed supplies. To help address this need, The Dayton Foundation and the Mathile Family Foundation launched a leadership initiative in 2008 to provide free educational supplies for teachers.

As the first teacher resource center of its kind in the Dayton area, Crayons to Classrooms makes available basic educational tools, such as paper, pencils and notebooks, as well as a wide variety of arts and crafts supplies, to qualifying teachers for children in need.

Teachers must be from schools that are pre-qualified to participate in the program, the criterion being that 70 percent of the school’s students participate in the National School Lunch Program.

When Crayons to Classrooms opened its doors for the first time on January 15, 2009, teachers from The Gardendale Academy in Dayton were overwhelmed. Said one teacher, “This is a wonderful opportunity to get help for my students. It also helps my students learn about the generosity of others – an extremely important lesson.”