Clear the list Amazon teachers

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Jill Hussong arrived home after taking her son to college, saw a pile of packages stacked by her front door and felt a wave of concern, familiar to anyone known for late-night online shopping: What on earth did I order this time?

As she opened boxes, concern turned to joy. These items weren’t her own purchases, but from strangers. People Hussong had never met were eager to help her prepare her classroom for the upcoming school year and had cleared her Amazon wishlist.

Hussong, a fourth grade teacher in Shakopee, Minnesota, had requested dozens of picture and chapter books for her class. She's teaching in her school's online program, for families that don't feel comfortable with in-person school. Her students won't have access to the school library.

“My mind is completely blown,” she said.

Started in 2019 as a private Facebook group for Texas educators, #ClearTheList has become a nationwide movement, endorsed by social media influencers and celebrities alike, to help teachers outfit their classrooms. Over the last few years, the plight of American teachers has become impossible to ignore, as educators speak freely about how little they’re paid and how much personal money they spend on classroom necessities.

Ninety-four percent of American public school teachers reported paying for school supplies out of their own pocket in the 2014-15 school year, according to a Department of Education survey. Those teachers spent an average of $479 each. Thousands of teachers nationwide are so desperate for more funds, they've taken second jobs. 

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Not to mention, there’s a global pandemic that’s surging just as America’s kids are returning to classrooms, Afghanistan is overcome by chaos, and a devastating earthquake in Haiti recently killed more than 2,200 people.

“Everything sucks,” tweeted influencer Ashley Spivey on Aug. 3. “Help clear a list for a teacher in need. … Studies say that clearing a list makes you feel 87% happier. Try it.”

Spivey, 36, rose to fame on season 15 of ABC’s hit reality show "The Bachelor," which aired in 2011. Since then, the nanny and Instagram influencer has worked to use her platform for good, eschewing the growing notion that social media consumption is mostly bad. She regularly fundraises for teachers and encourages her followers to donate blood.

In early August, Spivey set a goal of clearing lists for 100 teachers and counselors around the country. She asked for submissions, with a short bio, via her Instagram direct message, especially encouraging applications from teachers at Title I schools in low-income neighborhoods. She stopped counting when more than 800 teachers reached out. Organizing the lists into a spreadsheet that featured close to all 50 states, she shared the link with her 82,000 Instagram and 69,000 Twitter followers. She figured it would take a month to complete.

Eight days later, they’d cleared 155 lists, shattering Spivey’s original goal.

America is going back to school. Teachers are looking for thousands of missing kids.

Spivey credits a family friend with teaching her the value of education and helping her fall in love with reading. To her, clearing the list of a teacher isn’t just about participating in a fun social media campaign but an example of how a small act of kindness can reverberate through a community.

“I know everything has been awful lately, and I know that makes people feel helpless,” Spivey said. “But you don’t have to think about how you can help the whole country. When you look in your backyard, it’s not just about helping a teacher; that generosity trickles down to the student, to their family. My hope is that when people see this effort, they try to do more in their community.”

Whatever you do, Spivey said, don’t fall for the conventional end-of-the-school-year teacher gift.

“People think we’re getting teachers books or pencils, which we are, but it’s also stuff kids need, like socks and snacks and laundry detergent,” Spivey said. “ Teachers don’t need another mug – they need real help.”

While #ClearTheList has in the past been endorsed by actresses like Jessica Alba, Spivey found that this year, it was more helpful to work with other “micro-influencers.” These people might not be as well known to the general public but have a dedicated following and consider their online community a sort of nationwide friend group. Over the weekend, comedian Ashley Hesseltine, co-host of the popular “Girls Gotta Eat” podcast, shared her own excel spreadsheet with links to more than 600 teachers’ wish lists.

Dozens of teachers shared their lists with USA TODAY, ranging in dollar amounts between $300 and $1,200. They asked for conventional items such as books, markers and art supplies, but also mobile whiteboards, alternate seating, headphones and phone charging cables, things that can make their rooms more functional and comfortable. Teachers in low-income schools asked for items such as backpacks, which they can send home permanently with disadvantaged students.

Sarah Rainier, who teaches fifth grade science and social studies, is given $100 a year by her school to outfit her south New Jersey classroom for 75 students, most of them from low-income families. Her list, totaling 75 items, was cleared in less than six hours of Spivey posting it. 

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Generosity from strangers lifts a huge burden off cash-strapped parents, Rainier said, and is especially nice for educators after a year of what felt like being dragged through the mud because of the pandemic. "So many teachers were blamed for schools not being open even though it wasn’t our fault."

For Whitney Fowler in Nederland, Texas, located about 90 miles east of Houston, the concept of asking strangers for charity was unthinkable when she started teaching 11 years ago. She had hesitations about submitting her list to Spivey.

“There’s some stigma attached to sharing a list,” Fowler admitted. “There can be judgment from others, especially people not in the profession. They’ll ask, ‘Why do you need this? Didn’t you know how much teaching pays before you signed up?’”

At Fowler’s first job at a Title I school, money was so tight teachers were limited to 1,000 copies of any worksheet per classroom. She frequently had to pay out of pocket for additional worksheet copies. Her Amazon list totaled about $500. After her list was cleared, Fowler, like many teachers, paid it forward, helping buy supplies for two of her former students who are in their first year of teaching.

She wonders if, after more than a year of homeschooling because of the pandemic, parents and the general public have a better appreciation of teachers. Whatever compels random people to help her students, she’ll take it. And she’s grateful that #ClearTheList can educate the public not just on what teachers need, but what they actually do – take care of the whole person who walks into their classroom, not just tend to their educational needs.

Taylor Olsen teaches social students in Harlowton High in central Montana, a school of about 90 kids from grades seven to 12. Olsen started following Spivey, an avid reader, for her book recommendations and submitted her list on a whim. She never imagined strangers would shell out close to $800 to help her students. Now she plans to turn it into a classroom lesson.

“I can’t wait to talk with my students about how people who are probably different than us – socioeconomically, politically, religiously, people who look different than us – they care about you and your education,” Olsen said.

Said Rainer, the fifth grade teacher from New Jersey: “My kids see a lot of negative in this world. The message that someone out there is rooting for them, that’s powerful.”

And it’s a lesson, she said, that sticks, long after students have left her well-supplied classroom.

How to help

Want to help a teacher in your community? Search #ClearTheList on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to find a teacher's list – then let the shopping begin! 

You can also search by ZIP code or specific school on DonorsChoose.org, another website where educators frequently fundraise for their classrooms.