PASADENA, Texas — It's a busy time for many teachers as they're getting their classrooms back in shape as kids go back to school.
Third-grade bilingual teacher Nancy Basoria is no exception and is prepping for her 11th year. She starts decorating her room as soon as the custodians at Jensen Elementary allow her back in the school.
However, this veteran teacher spent several summer days shopping for her kids. She buys all the decorations, and yes, she even has a theme for her room.
“This year will be UH ‘Go Coogs!’” Basoria said.
Every cent she has spent so far is her own money.
“Sadly, it is yes,” she said. “Everything we use for decorations came out of our pockets.”
Well to be fair, she said she also dips into some of her husband's money.
“Yes, every year I fight with him,” she said. “It's like I spend my money and a little bit of his money.”
She goes through all this trouble not just for herself, but more importantly for her students.
“For maybe one or two students, this is a safe place during the whole year,” she said. “I want them to feel safe, engaged in the classroom, to be able to come to school and be happy in here.”
If you are wondering how much she has spent this year to transform her room into “Coogs’ House.”
“Maybe like $500? Yes, maybe,” she said.
Granted, she had the same theme last year and was able to reuse a lot of her décor. That does not count the school supplies her kiddos need the most.
“Glue, sticks, pencils, journal, and crayons,” she said.
Thanks to Facebook donations she can buy those supplies for students who can't afford their own. She keeps them handy because every year she has students who just don't have the means to get any supplies.
“I don't do it in front of the other kids but I leave it under the desk so they can feel safe and have it here,” she said.
All this can have a big payoff. She also has an Amazon wishlist to supplement books and materials, but again, if it's not donated, all of this money comes out of her pocket.
In the end, she says it's all worth it.
“When I come to work and I see them every morning, I picture a doctor or a lawyer or maybe an engineer," she said. "That is why I do that."
It’s a dream shared by teachers across our area. Not just in Basoria's vibrant third-grade classroom.
She hopes that Monday morning her hard work will pay off as she welcomes those eager nervous kids to start off their first day of third grade.