Tag Archive for: School Supplies

Stonewater Helps 12 Teachers Get Classroom School Supplies

Stonewater Roofing continued its late summer tradition this year by hand-delivering overloaded boxes of school supplies to East Texas teachers as part of the company’s #ClearTheList campaign. This marks the fourth year that the roofing company has given back to area educators by buying up items on their classroom wish lists.

This was Stonewater Roofing’s biggest school supply drop yet with a total of 12 teachers receiving stacks of books, games, paints, and other learning tools. More than 450 items were delivered to campuses, elementary to high school, from the Longview area to the DFW area.

In order to be considered for the contest, applicants were asked to submit a short video explaining why they — or the teacher who they were nominating — deserved to have their classroom wish list cleared. The following list of winners were selected from those video submissions.

  • Deedra Evans, Cheney Hills Elementary School in Richland Hills
  • Yessenia Hernandez, East Side Elementary School in Jacksonville
  • Michelle Hill, Pine Tree Primary School in Longview
  • Sara Loredo, Three Lakes Middle School in Tyler
  • Katie Martin, Jacksonville Middle School in Jacksonville
  • Jenelle McClure, E.J. Moss Intermediate School in Lindale
  • Lauren Moore, Hallsville East Elementary School in Hallsville
  • Stephen Niedrauer, Tyler High School in Tyler
  • Ashley Poeschl, Stanton-Smith Elementary School in Whitehouse
  • Tracee Pouliasis, Truman W. Smith Children’s Care Center in Gladewater
  • Shannon Stewart, Boles Junior High School in Arlington

Each teacher had a special story to share with the Stonewater Roofing team. For instance, Hill is a first-year kindergarten teacher after changing careers following a battle with cancer. McClure feels teaching’s financial burden twice as hard each year, because her husband is also an educator in Lindale. Pouliasis works at the only facility in Texas that teams with a public school district to provide in-house education to children suffering from congenital disorders or debilitating injuries.

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In addition to those lucky educators, Stonewater Roofing also helped out a member of its own family. Megan Henley is a fourth grade teacher at Bullard Elementary School in Bullard, and the wife of Stonewater Roofing safety manager Rick Henley. “While the contest was being held, we found out about Meg’s own classroom needs,” said COO and co-owner Jacob Law. “It only made sense to help her out as well, and we did so with funds separate from the contest to make sure that it didn’t take away from any of our applicants.”

The #ClearTheList movement began as a social media effort to help educators get necessary school supplies. School districts are unable to keep up with this demand, which forces teachers to purchase materials for their students using money from their own pockets. Many teachers started relying on the kindness of online strangers, posting their Amazon wish lists on social media with the #ClearTheList hashtag. The campaign quickly went viral.

Stonewater Roofing employees delivered all of the school supplies to the winners in the first few weeks of August, just in time for the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

#ClearTheList Returns To Help Teachers From Longview To DFW

The new school year has arrived, but Stonewater Roofing first helped nine lucky teachers get the supplies they needed for their classrooms. It was part of the East Texas company’s annual #ClearTheList campaign, a push to assist underpaid educators by fulfilling their Amazon wishlists.

This was Stonewater Roofing’s third year helping out teachers. It was also the company’s largest school supply drop ever, hand-delivering books, games, pens, stickers and much more. Instructors ranged from elementary to high school and stretched from the DFW area to Longview. Winners were chosen randomly, and this year just so happened to include two ladies from Owens Elementary School in Tyler.

  • Bonnie Carney, Holiday Heights Elementary School in North Richland Hills
  • Regina Cooper Ahn, Bridgemark Center For Learning in Tyler
  • Nicole Dickerson, Stanton-Smith Elementary School in Whitehouse
  • Tracy Dingler, Bullard Elementary School in Bullard
  • Sarah Galland, Velma Penny Elementary School in Lindale
  • Stephanie Pearce, Pine Tree Primary School in Longview
  • Amy Touchstone, Longview High School in Longview
  • Risa Wasik, Owens Elementary School in Tyler
  • Kayla Whiddon, Owens Elementary School in Tyler

The #ClearTheList movement started as a social media phenomenon. School districts simply cannot afford to buy all of the supplies needed for their classrooms. So, many educators started relying on the kindness of online strangers, posting their wishlists and sharing the registries on social media with the #ClearTheList hashtag. The campaign soon turned into a viral sensation.

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“I’ve already spent a lot of money on my classroom, and there’s always more things to buy,” explained Dickerson as she learned that her list would be cleared. “There’s some things on there that we use every single day, like the paper and the markers, the things that get used up and we have to constantly buy.”

“I put so much into my classroom,” added Galland. “Not just money, but time and energy and just my whole heart.”

“If you teach with your heart first, more than anything, they’re going to remember that,” stated Touchstone about her Longview high schoolers. She said that many come from impoverished environments, and they deserve to have the same opportunities found elsewhere. “I feel like God put me in this position, at this school, for right now.”

Employees from Stonewater Roofing brought the overstuffed boxes of school supplies to the teachers before the new school year began. “We have come through probably the hardest year of our teaching careers,” said Carney, referencing the challenges that came about due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This last group of kids made it, and I’m so looking forward to this new group of kids.”

East Texas Teachers Receive Massive #ClearTheList Deliveries

With the new school year fast approaching, teachers across the nation participated in the #ClearTheList campaign, a social media phenomenon that helped educators stock up on necessary school supplies for the latest crop of students. A group of four East Texas teachers saw everything on their wishlists hand-delievered to their classrooms, courtesy of Stonewater Roofing.

It’s no secret that teachers are underpaid, and school district budgets can only provide limited help for each of their employees. So, many of the nation’s educators have turned to strangers online for assistance, creating wishlists on Amazon and sharing these registries on social media with the #ClearTheList hashtag. This campaign quickly turned into a viral sensation.

The hope is that a kind soul will buy an item and ship it directly to the teacher, until the entire list of school supplies has been purchased. The campaign has been a success for many teachers nationwide, but Asquith, Butler, Lampkin and Mansinger never expected to hear that all of their classroom needs were being fulfilled in one swoop.

“Oh, my gosh. That’s amazing,” said Lampkin upon hearing the news. “That is awesome.”

Stonewater Roofing created the biggest #ClearTheList social media thread in East Texas, earning more than 20,000 responses from area educators and supporters. The company randomly selected four lucky teachers and purchased every item on their wishlists.

“Thank you,” said Butler when she was told about her upcoming delivery. “That just made my day.”

The wishlists included standard back-to-school fare such as pencils, crayons, markers, watercolors, rulers, scissors, sticky notes, glue sticks, and tape. There were also more specialized learning tools including math games, geometry sets, magnets, modeling clay, geography puzzles, and games about socialization. Asquith even requested a canvas play teepee for her students.

But the wishlists contained organizational tools for the teachers as well. There were filing cabinets, paper organizers, storage carts, and bulletin boards on the lists, along with basic equipment like a floor lamp and headphones. These are all tools that will help the teachers as they aim to enrich the educational experience for East Texas students this coming year.

“The majority of our staff are products of area school districts and now have our own children within those schools,” explained Trent Spradlin, Chief Marketing Officer for Stonewater Roofing. “That being said, we do what we can to support our teachers in areas they need help the most.”

“Thank you so, so much,” added a delighted Mansinger. “That is just the best surprise.”

Employees from Stonewater Roofing began hand-delivering the cases of school supplies to the four lucky teachers on Friday.