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Berkshire Drive resident Barry Star was delighted when his daughter wanted to visit him in his office back in 2019.
“I thought she just wanted to see me, but it was so she could steal stuff from my company’s supply closet for things she could use in her Newton school classroom,” he said.
That gave Star an idea.
“I discovered that the average teacher spends from $500 to $1,000 of their own money on school supplies,” he said.
So he started Mass Teacher Resources to get materials for Title 1 schools.
“Believe it or not, our affluent community has two Title 1 schools, Muraco and Lynch,” Star said. “I started getting supplies to give out to schools in the area, at first buying in bulk on E-bay and Craigslist.”
He even asked at a Staples store what they do with unsold stock.
“They told me that most of it goes back to the distributor, but some of it goes into a dumpster,” he said. “So I asked them for it.”
At first Star stored the materials in his office, but when he sold his company, he had to find a commercial space and now it's at Cummings Park in Woburn.
“We have a lot of supplies,” said Star. “Two weeks ago, a retired teacher gave us a basement-full of materials. Another donor gave us 500 boxes of colored pencils.”
Right now, the organization provides support for “300 schools and thousands of teachers,” said Star.
And in addition to material donations, they welcome financial donations to pay the director’s salary, overhead and shipping expenses.
“Winchester Savings Bank gave us a grant,” Star said.
Executive director Maureen Willis points out that “this is a real store where teachers can shop for what they need.”
“And it’s a godsend for a new teacher, especially someone who gets to their classroom and finds there’s no rug on the floor, nothing on the shelves,” Willis said.
There are typically about a dozen teachers a day in the store
“Another benefit is how the teachers help each other and give them advice on what to take,” Willis said. “It’s a place where new teachers can get mentored.”
Star’s philosophy is simple.
“Judaism has a tenet called tikkun olam, which means repairing the world,” Star said. “Not doing what makes you happy, but by repairing the world, you feel happy. Plus it’s a sustainable program — use things instead of throwing them into a dumpster.”
