As St. Vrain Valley and Boulder Valley school districts continue to monitor COVID-19 and how it impacts the impending school year, students in need will not have to worry about getting supplies.
Crayons to Calculators, a program established in SVVSD in 2008 is a partnership between the Education Foundation of St. Vrain Valley, or EFSVV, Impact on Education, SVVSD and BVSD. The partnership allows for lower prices at a wholesaler, according to Allison Billings, executive director of Impact on Education.
Each year the program reaches out to local businesses and residents for both monetary and material donations. Because of COVID-19 the two education foundations feel it is safer this year to ask for only monetary donations.
The program is estimating around 11,000 students, 5,900 of whom attend SVVSD schools, are in need of supplies for the 2020-21 school year.
Crayons to Calculators in past years has purchased nearly half of the supplies in premade kits. This year all supplies will be bought in kits tailored to grade level and school district, which will include hand sanitizer and headphones “to make sure kids are extra safe this year,” Billings said.
Program organizers estimate the cost to supply students from preschool to high school will be $250,000. Crayons to Calculators uses the following scale to determine the goal: $20 to fill two preschool backpacks, $50 to fill three K-2 backpacks, $100 to fill five elementary backpacks, $250 to fill 10 middle school backpacks and $500 to fill 20 high school backpacks, according to the website.
“We normally receive supplies in community drives or on-site business drives (employees bring in supplies to donate on behalf of the organization). However, we are not able to do supply drives, all items need to be purchased this year from a vendor and school supply kits scaled to grade levels will be purchased from a wholesale provider and delivered to schools around the district,” said Michelle Phenlan community liaison and program lead for EFSVV.
The primary business sponsor for the program for the last 13 years has been Western Disposal, which has donated millions of dollars over the course of its partnership with Crayons to Calculators.
“We believe that beginning early and having the playing field as level as possible is what’s going to give the best outcomes for kids,” said Kathy Carroll, community relations manager for Western Disposal. “We have chosen Crayons to Calculators as a very practical, very measurable way to promote that cause, to make a change.”
In past years the program has hosted hundreds of volunteers in each district who pack backpacks and deliver them to schools throughout both districts. To prevent a potential spread of the virus, the program is relying on BVSD and SVVSD staff to sort and distribute supplies, Billings said. “There are a lot of unsung heroes that work in the warehouses of both of those districts that make sure that the supplies are delivered where they need to go.”
Despite the uncertainty of the plan for the upcoming school year, SVVSD does not anticipate that the supply list will change.
“I think it is more important than ever that kids have the supplies they need since there’s a decent chance (for online learning). I don’t think any of us know for sure what this school year will look like, including the people making the decisions. So it’s really important that we know that every kid has supplies that they can have with them while they’re in the school building or while they are at home,” Billings said.
- the volunteer base and material donations, the Crayons to Calculators program is looking for more community support than ever before. Those interested in donating can visit the Crayons to Calculators website to learn more about how to contribute.
“I think it’s a critical piece, the difference in how a kid feels on the first day of school showing up without supplies as opposed to how a kids feels on the first day of school knowing they have everything they need is a pretty big difference,” Billings said.
