Speakout Columns
Seek and ye shall find
Jan 31, 2008 4:12 PM
Teacher’s choice money is a nice perk for a New York City teacher — and goodness knows, we don’t get too many perks. But that golden sum of money can be used up mighty quickly. Even for teachers who budget carefully, do scrupulous comparison shopping and look for promising sales and specials, the Teacher’s Choice funds cannot buy everything that we would like.
But did you know that you eagle-eyed teachers can get a great many things for free? Before you write me off as a charlatan, let me tell you about scalvaging. It is worthwhile knowing! My father taught me about this practice years ago and I graciously gave a name to his habit. I combined the words scavenge and salvage to come up with the hybrid term scalvage. Basically it is a polite step or two above dumpster diving. (Dad has a lengthy rap sheet of scalvaging wood, plastic and stone scraps to make furniture, decorative carvings and toys.)
Before you serenade me with a chorus of “yuck,” let me explain a few ways you can scalvage and get good materials for use in your classrooms. My favorite — and it is a very eco-friendly gesture — is to visit certain types of businesses and ask them for things they no longer want. Often they are happy to just give these things away.
Examples: Recently I popped in to some upholstery shops, furniture stores and a carpet shop. I approached the staff politely and asked if they had any old fabric sample books or panels they were planning to throw away. I also explained briefly that I was a teacher and would be using their cast-offs to make crafts with my students.
The carpet store gave me four binders of carpet samples as well as two boards with samples. Two upholstery stores let me cart off fabric books they no longer needed. A furniture store told me to come back in a week to take away a fabric book. Another shop told me they had already given a sample book to someone but that I could come by in a month or two and they might have something for me. I also plan to visit a store that is renovating because they told me I could carry away any wood molding pieces that were extras.
Many businesses are comfortable with giving away such things, and there are plenty of such places in town. It means less garbage for them to pack up and drag to the curb. The workers feel good that someone is making use of this stuff. You feel good because you can bring these to your students so they can engage in craft projects. Whatever grade level you teach, be it elementary, middle or high school, you can put these things to good use. Or if you can’t, someone else in your school might be able to do so.
If you teach art, then scalvaging is a must. If you teach social studies or language arts, as well as other courses, there are bound to be worthy uses for these supplies. If you run a theater arts club or a crafts club, there are plenty of reasons to engage in scalvaging.
And there are other ways to scalvage: Yes, judicious dumpster diving can yield good — even great — finds. Or, you can spread the word to friends and family that you are looking for stuff to bring to class and you may get some gifts. Also, there are Web sites devoted to recycling and swapping materials. Some neighborhoods even have drop-off sites where you can sift through oddball collections that may be good for classroom use. And don’t forget those heaps of detritus outside apartment buildings that appear whenever someone is moving or renovating.
Use your imagination, use your wits and see what freebies you can scrounge up. You and your students will benefit from this and, heck, you just might have some fun doing it.
Ellen Levitt, a social studies teacher in New York City public schools for 111/2 years, is currently teaching at PS/IS 27, the Agnes Humphrey School in Brooklyn.
