Dr. Lori Garrison (Principal at Ferndale Middle Schools), Mr. Casey Mott (Bank of North Carolina), Mrs. Bobbie Burris (Bank of North Carolina) and Ms.Heather Stilley (Bank of North Carolina). This is Bank of America’s Third Year of Partnership with Ferndale Middle. Thomas Built Bus loaned the bus.

Fill the Bus

FTB is a business/school partnership program that begins each year with fulfilling teachers’ school supply wish lists. To date, 46 schools have been matched with a business partner, but the drive to match more schools continues. 

Along with much needed school supplies, FTB, encourages a year-round connection with businesses and their partner schools. One thing that every classroom in GCS needs is volunteer time.  Partner businesses encourage their employees to take a lunch hour once a week to spend time with a child at school, or volunteer to come to a classroom to talk about their jobs or hobbies. Business can also support their partner schools by getting a group together to plant a vegetable garden at school, organizing a school grounds cleanup day, or fulfilling other needs at the school. Keeping an open line of communication between school administration and the partner business is key to a successful FTB that can last year after year.

Through FTB, the Bank of North Carolina has made a difference for teacher Kim Forbes at Ferndale Middle.  Forbes teaches in the career and technical education department. “This program has helped me greatly, especially for those supplies that are not normally kept in stock like hot glue sticks and other items,” said Forbes.  “It also helped in several situations when students had extenuating circumstances, and supplies were not a high priority for parents.  Last year I spent over $500 of my own money because I did not want students to go without needed supplies. Fill the Bus is crucial for teachers, and we are grateful for any help we can get so our students can have a great learning experience.”

Community Partnerships Help Teachers in the Classroom

The latest figures from the National School Supply and Equipment Association (NSSEA) report show that on average, teachers annually spend at least $826 on school supplies, and often the figure is higher.  To help teachers lower their personal expenses, local businesses are partnering with GCS to provide needed supplies for the classroom through two major GCS initiatives:  Fill the Bus (FTB) and Tools for School.

Tools for School

For the past 11 years, WFMY News 2’s Tools for Schools campaign has helped put the right tools into the hands of students whose families may not be able to afford to buy items such as pencils, paper, markers, backpacks and more.  Throughout the month of August, WFMY News 2 and GCS encourage people to drop off school supplies at the Tools for Schools bins located at the front of all Guilford County Wal-Mart locations. These donations will be sorted and made available to all Title 1 schools.

“Tools for School is a great program that our teachers, students and parents rely on every year,” said Cecilia Adams, GCS manager of community partnerships. “We are so grateful for the support we get from our community during back-to-school time and throughout the year, and we want to encourage school staffs to let our community and businesses know just how much we appreciate their help.”

For more information about these community partnerships and others go to http://www.gcsnc.com/community/index.html

Employees can assist in these efforts by:

• Donating school supplies at Wal-Mart locations
• Volunteering in the Lunch Buddy programs and others
• Setting up a school supply collection bin in their department