A local second-grade teacher has pulled down over $4,000 worth of classroom supplies since March of last year. Teachers are finding new ways to stock their classrooms — donations, grants — and some are turning to the Internet. Myakka (my-AKK-uh) River Elementary teacher Misty Blais uses DonorsChoose.org, a website where teachers can post projects, supply requests or field trips and for funding. Typically, once the money is raised, the website organizers will purchase the supplies and then mail them to the teachers directly. So far, 30 projects have been fully funded in the county, many of them costing hundreds of dollars.
