With over 200 participants, the National Honor Society teacher supply drive gave school supplies to over 80 teachers. The drive occurred on Jan. 21, and was the first ever NHS school supply drive. 

According to NHS President senior Lois Xie, the drive aimed to help teachers prepare for the second semester when they are usually running low on school supplies. 

“Lots of teachers are asking for supplies over winter break and it’s always kind of a hard time,” Xie said. “For example, they’re running out of Expo markers, they’re running out of ink, and so on.” 

NHS members purchased donation items and gathered them in the small gym. From there, they organized the items into bags and delivered them to the teachers. Overall, Xie said recipients appreciated the drive.

“I heard great things from the teachers,” senior Director of Communications Greta Barnett said. “It has been good to be able to see staff members use the items they asked for during class and give back to them after all the hard work they put into student education.” 

For senior Kathryn Hale, who delivered a package with supplies to Band Director Eric Bradshaw, she said it felt good to give back to teachers and the school. 

“I had Mr. Bradshaw…and he’s helped me a lot, just in the fine arts department, so it was really nice to talk to him and help him out with his second semester,” Hale said.

Along with the school supplies, one of the most popular donations from participants in the drive was candy and snacks for teachers to share with students. 

“I’ve had a couple kids I’ve shared [the candy] with. I’m like, ‘You need a piece of candy?’” Bradshaw said.

However, the drive was not only successful at putting more candy into circulation, but making a long-lasting impact on the community. 

“I would definitely want to continue this, because it feels like the community as a whole, at Free State, really appreciated it, especially the teachers,” Xie said.