Parents afraid that their child’s teacher might not cherish another “World’s Best Teacher” mug now have at least two alternatives for gift giving.
Retailing giant Target Corp. last fall launched a program allowing parents to donate classroom supplies from the Minneapolis-based chain online. And now, Educational Aids Inc., an educational supplies mail-order business based in Warren, Ill., has begun offering a similar service.
In each case, teachers or schools go online to designate items for a wish list that parents or others can then access and choose from to make donations. The idea is that the educators will get exactly what they need from the retailers’ inventory and not the classroom equivalent of toilet water.
“I’ve been a parent,” said Educational Aids’ president, Julie S. Langlas. “At the end of each school year, you want to get something really nice for the teacher, but what do you get?”
Possibilities from her specialized catalog include educational games, classroom decorations, and books. From Target, parents can order notebooks, crayons, computer disks, and the like.
Ms. Langlas said she has joined with her vendors to offer giveaways to some teachers who sign up. One month it was 12 bulletin-board kits. She also promises to fulfill in full an occasional wish list at no charge.
Her wish-list Web site can be found at .
