The Pencil Box Provides School Supplies As Need Grows In Tulsa County

A Tulsa nonprofit is meeting teachers' needs as the new school year gets underway. "The Pencil Box" offers free school supplies to teachers who work at qualifying schools throughout Tulsa County.

"This is incredible. It's like Christmas,” McLain art teacher Charisa Jacobs said.

"I got a little bit of everything. Poster board, Kleenex, tape, lots of fun stuff, a new book for them to try, very exciting,” Tulsa Public Schools Deaf Education Teacher Laura Jones said.

Jones said she picked up $402 worth of supplies on her visit this week.

"Savings out of my own pocket, being able to help the kids, bigger incentive box, lots of fun new things,” Jones said.

The Pencil Box said the need for supplies grows each year. Five years ago, 66 schools were eligible to come here for supplies. Last year, that number was 73 schools. And this year, teachers from 77 schools are eligible.

“Oh, it's been extremely busy,” Founding Executive Director Nancy Bolzle said.

The Pencil Box partners with Tulsa County schools that have 70% of their students living at or below the federal poverty level. And while the need has grown, the demand for a certain school supply has stayed the same.

"The number one school supply in this digital age is still the number 2 pencil,” Bolzle said.

That was on Jacobs’ shopping list.

"We need pencils because we are doing a lot of sketching and they're diving into the world of graphite,” Jacobs said.

With several aisles full of supplies, The Pencil Box has thought of everything.

"This is such a tremendous blessing. What a gift to our students. They're gonna be able to do so many more projects,” Jacobs said.

For more information about what hours teachers can shop or how to help the nonprofit, click here to visit the website.