“It was as if the children had won the lottery,” said Sophy Aponte, the UFT Teacher Center coach at PS 18, a UFT Community Learning School in the Bronx that received a donation of school supplies on April 21. “The little ones were jumping up and down, eager to start coloring. We’re an impoverished school and at this time of year our supplies were dwindling,” Aponte said.

The Community Learning Schools Initiative facilitates partnerships to bring vital services into public schools to meet the needs of students and their families. At PS 18, every class — 642 children in all — received a kit containing pencils, with sharpeners and cases; glue sticks; erasers; rulers; folders; crayons; scissors and more.

“The kids were excited, the staff was excited,” said UFT Chapter Leader Jneal Cleary. The party started in the auditorium, where students listened to music as the excitement built, then cheered the arrival of Yoobi goodie packs. The company’s chief giving officer, Justin Wolff, later visited two classrooms to personally present the eye-catching, brightly colored supplies. Whenever anyone buys a specially marked Yoobi item, another item is donated to the Kids in Need Foundation or another donation partner for inclusion in a Classroom Pack. In addition to helping needy schools, the program also helps solve the problem of educators paying out of pocket for classroom supplies. Among the special guests at the PS 18 event was Karen Alford, the UFT vice president for elementary schools and the head of the Community Learning Schools Initiative. “It was good to have those people in the building to see all the great things that go on in our school,” said Cleary.