Meet the Teacher: Lesley Romero

Teachers love Yoobi! This week we got the chance to hear from one of the teachers who received a Yoobi classroom pack in her class.

Meet Lesley Romero, teacher at Westmont Elementary School in Pomona, CA.

What age/grade do you teach?

This 2014/2015 school year I am teaching 1st graders, which range from ages 5–6.

How long have you been teaching? 

This will be my 9th year of teaching. I started back in 2006 and have taught 1st–3rd grade.

What do you love most about teaching?

The thing I love most about teaching is getting to see the kids faces and excitement when they have succeeded at a task they have been working so hard at to learn and understand.

How do you get the school supplies you need for your classroom? Can it be difficult to get what you need?

We have a limited amount of supplies that the school provides for us. The school is pretty good about ordering the basics such as paper, pencils and crayons. Whatever we don’t have we ask for donations from parents and the rest we supply ourselves. School supplies can sometimes be tough to get, and if it’s ordered it takes a really long time to get back to us.

Do you spend money out of your own pocket on core school supplies for your students? Would you mind sharing how much on average? 

I usually spend at least $300–400 throughout the year of my own money. I use this to make my classroom environment bright, friendly, and inviting for the kids. I also use this money as special holidays and events come around to do fun projects with my students.

Does having access to school supplies really make a difference in your classroom, and to kids? If so, how?

Having access to school supplies really makes a difference. Kids go through so many pencils and boxes of crayons throughout the year. When their crayons are old and worn out it would be nice to know that we can get new boxes for them without breaking the budget. Kids also love to have things that they can call their own instead of a box of community crayons, scissors, erasers and glue to share.

What have you done/will you do/can you do with the Yoobi Classroom Pack in your classroom? 

I am very grateful my class received this Yoobi classroom pack. I was able to personalize new homework folders and give each student a pack of supplies to keep in their desk for their own use. They are responsible for their special pack and they know they have to take care of it. They really enjoy the colored pencils as we use them for highlighting purposes when reading and writing and also for coloring. They especially love the bright colors.

What do your students think about the One for You, One for Me idea?

I talked a little bit about Yoobi and tried to make their experience of receiving these supplies special and memorable. They were so happy to know that strangers would give them all this cool stuff. My students were very excited to have their own big erasers!

What is your favorite school supply?

Colored pens and highlighters!