Friday, Aug. 08, 2008

Southlake Women’s Club School Supply Sale Puts Students’ Needs First

Annual Event Focuses of Campus-Specific Supplies and Services

By Brandon P. Murray

Contributing Writer

The Southlake Women’s Club has scheduled its annual school supply sale from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16, in the Carroll Senior High School cafeteria at 1501 W. Southlake Blvd.

The event raises money to benefit students at participating Carroll campuses, said Kathy Talley, vice president of school supplies for the SWC, and the person in charge of the event.

"All proceeds from the sale are evenly distributed between each participating school," Talley said in a release. "Those funds are then spent directly on supplies and services that directly affect students’ needs."

The funds that were raised during last year’s sale allowed the club to present each participating school with a check for $2,641, which helped purchase items such as a portable sound system, library books and balanced literacy materials, Talley said.

This year’s sale will feature several changes.

The school supplies will be specific to each grade level and to each campus based on an individualized supply lists provided by each participating school, Talley said.

"This also means that there will be several different [amounts] as well," Talley said.

She said everyone is excited about the individualized lists because they allow each school to cater to the needs of its own teachers and students.

As of this year, school supply packs will not be available for seventh through 12th grades because the principals of the campuses that house those grade levels agreed that the specific needs for each teacher and classroom were too varied to be included in the sale, Talley said in the release.

"With such a wide array of classes, each teacher was still in need of very specific supplies in addition to the main supply pack," she said.

Officials thought that there would be less confusion for parents if they just waited until after the first day of school for teachers to send home their course supply lists.

The participating Carroll ISD campuses include Carroll Elementary, Durham Elementary, Johnson Elementary, Eubanks Intermediate, and Durham Intermediate.

Rockenbaugh Elementary and Old Union Elementary conduct their own internal supply sales.

The individual supply costs for the sale by campus and grade level include:

Carroll Elementary School: kindergarten, $75; first grade, $45; second grade, $55; third grade, $55; and fourth grade, $81.

Durham Elementary School: kindergarten, $70; first grade, $70; second grade, $65; third grade, $67; fourth grade, $60.

Supply packs for both Carroll and Durham elementaries include art supplies.

Johnson Elementary School: kindergarten, $55; first grade, $45; second grade, $40; third grade, $40; and fourth grade, $40.

Eubanks Intermediate School: fifth grade, $50; sixth grade, $57; art packs for both grade levels are $13 per pack.

Durham Intermediate School: fifth grade, $75; sixth grade, $60; fifth-grade art is $12, sixth-grade band $15, sixth-grade art/ music/ choir is $27. Sixth-grade students may take band or art, but not both.

Items can be purchased by cash, check or credit card, Talley said Tuesday.

The cards that the SWC will accept during the sale are Master Card, Visa, Discover, she said.

EPI, the school supply vendor used by SWC for the sale, is expected to donate some free supplies to children in financial need within the district, as they have done in previous years, Talley said Tuesday.

This year’s SWC School Supply Committee members are: Lisa Mlinac, Diane Prager, Michelle Nolan, Nicola Mediterraneo, Tina Bacius and Renee Swift.

For lists of the individual supplies needed for each school, see the CISD Web site, www.southlakecarroll.edu/backtoschool0809.htm#supplies. For details about the Southlake Women’s Club, see www.southlakewomensclub.org.