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Social Media Hashtag Helping Teachers with Back-to-School Shopping

LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — The hashtag #ClearTheList has been popping up all over social media as teachers get ready to welcome students back to the classro...

LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. -- The hashtag #ClearTheList has been popping up all over social media as teachers get ready to welcome students back to the classroom. The hope is that generous members of the community will help them to get what they need for their students that's not necessarily funded by the school.

When you think of back to school, many think of stuffing backpacks with pencils, notebooks, and other supplies, but for many teachers, it means opening up their own wallets to buy items for the classroom to make it a more positive place to learn.

"More and more teachers are looking for ways to make their classrooms inviting and comfortable, and a place their students want to be," said teacher Jessica Trescavage.

Trescavage is a high school special education teacher at Riverside Junior/Senior High School and she has been slowly buying items for her room out of her own pocket over the last few years to help her students learn more comfortably.

"If you look around my room, I have two comfy chairs at the moment, and the kids will fight over them, and they really enjoy having them."

These pieces of furniture known as flexible seating are beneficial to her students who sometimes require unconventional learning and she's hoping to add more to her classroom through her Amazon wishlist.

Teachers across Pennsylvania have been posting to Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #ClearTheListPA, and across the county, celebrities such as Khloe Kardashian have been donating to classrooms to help teachers get the little extras they need via Amazon's wishlist.

While school districts provide the main learning tools, such as textbooks and curriculum, many teachers head to big-box stores such as Target or amazon.com to provide supplementary learning tools for their classrooms.

"Throughout the course of my teaching career, I have been to yard sales, to find things for my classroom. I love Target, I love Amazon. I actually had one student who made me a podium," Trescavage said.

With many schools strapped for cash, making a classroom feel like home just isn't in the budget, so some teachers shoulder the burden.

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