Overview
- The Aurora Public Schools Foundation reopened and restocked its Educator Emporium this week with a Tuchman Family Foundation grant to offer free crayons, notebooks, markers and other classroom essentials.
- A national Adopt a Classroom survey found teachers spent about $895 on average from their own pockets in 2024–25, highlighting why local supply hubs are in demand.
- During 2025–26 the Emporium served 411 individual educators through 606 visits, and the foundation expects more than 700 teachers to use the resource over the back-to-school period.
- Teachers in Aurora say they still spend hundreds of dollars each year on items such as pencils and notebooks so classrooms feel welcoming and students have what they need.
- The foundation asks for ongoing community donations and financial gifts to keep shelves stocked year-round because even a stocked Emporium cannot fully eliminate out-of-pocket costs for educators.