PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — “It’s a family thing,” said Melissa Gonzales, a kindergarten teacher at Oakhurst Elementary in Largo.
For Gonzales, teaching is more than what happens in the classroom.
“I went into teaching because I love kids. I love to see the growth of them,” she said.
Gonzales has been a kindergarten teacher for 19 years.
“When I started doing my teaching degree, I just knew kindergarten was where my heart was," she said. "I was made for kindergarten. Not everyone’s made for kindergarten, but this is my grade."
But it’s a job that doesn’t come without its challenges.
“There are so many challenges," Gonzalez said. "It comes to family, it comes to education, it comes to supplies, it comes to needs. Everything that we have. As a teacher, we put on many hats. It’s like I’m a nurse, I’m a therapist, I’m a mom, I’m a teacher. I’m here for when they cry, I’m here for when they’re happy."
While her students are small, her mission is big.
“Have an impact on the youth. That’s important,” she said.
To make that happen, Gonzales has to stock her classroom up with supplies that she pays for herself
“I spend a lot of money out of my own pocket. I try to keep it at a certain amount every year, never really quite works,” Gonzales said. “Sometimes kids don’t always come with the things that they need, and I’m not going to allow one of my kids to go without. Everybody is going to have what they need to accomplish what they need to do."
Gonzales has done this for nearly two decades, but this is something that’s not unique to her. Most teachers in our community have to tap into their own wallets to supply their classrooms.
“It’s not kind of like when you work at an office, you can go to a supply closet, and you can go, 'Okay, I need staples, I need pens, I need paper,' that kind of stuff. We actually have to purchase those things," she said. "So we have to purchase rubber bands and staples and staplers and tape and pencils and markers and pens, and all those kinds of things for our classrooms."
This comes at a time when a record number of teachers are leaving the profession. One of the biggest reasons they’re leaving is low pay.
According to the National Education Association, Florida most recently ranked 48 in the nation in average public school teacher pay.
“Especially with the economy being the way it is, inflation rising, the same way it is. People need help,” said Tasha Cohen-Glynn, public relations and marketing manager for Achieva Credit Union.
That’s why Achieva Credit Union is focused on giving back to teachers. It’s an organization that's had educators at the heart from the start.
“Achieva actually started in Pinellas County in 1937 with 7 teachers. There were 7 people that were denied a loan, and they decided to basically start their own financial institution,” Cohen-Glynn said.
Achieva is using its Partner in Education accounts to help teachers with the supplies they need.
“They actually get free supplies every six months just by having a Partner in Education account,” Cohen-Glynn said.
Those donations are not going unnoticed.
“I got the box, and I mean, it wasn’t a little box. It was a good size box," Gonzales said. "It was just full of supplies that like we use, and it was great. We used everything in the box."
Achieva hopes support like this will keep dedicated educators like Gonzales teaching for as long as possible.
“This is where I belong. It’s my home,” Gonzales said.
