JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — With Florida's back-to-school sales tax holiday continuing throughout August 11, this is an ideal time to buy supplies for not only students, but their teachers as well.
“Balik Skwela” which means 'back to school' in Tagalog, is a drive all to make sure the 100 plus Filipino teachers who are on the J-1 Visa have the supplies they need to ensure they have everything for their classroom.
Belle Pena, who works with students at Merrill Road Elementary, left the Philippines to teach in Jacksonville just three years ago but, she still says she’s not fully adjusted.
"There's a huge difference with pricing and stuff," Pena told First Coast News. "I went back to the Philippines a year ago, and I bought some supplies with me like half of my luggage has supplies with me because I know it's cheaper there."
Pena remembers the struggle she experienced during her first year of teaching in the U.S. She explained that teachers who have just come over on the J-1 Visa only have a couple weeks to set up their new classroom and adjust to American culture.
"When we got here, we don't have anything," Pena said. "We don't have a car, we don't have a house, like, you know how Filipinos do it? Together."
Pena is one of over 100 teachers who have left the Philippines to come to Jacksonville to assist with the teacher shortage — all of them coming with nothing but their resume, hopes and dreams.
"We would couch surf on there for the first few months until we get settled on our places," Pena said. "And then in the classroom, even not Filipinos, they were all full support. They would provide us cookware for a household, everything."
When these teachers come over to the states, they are given a small stipend to cover some school supply costs. But, getting to teach in a new classroom while getting adjusted to a new country is overwhelming.
“It's not enough that would last for the whole school year, usually will last for like, what first quarter of the year, because there's so much that you need to buy for all the kids, especially when you come from a low-income school, like students are not capable of buying their stuff,” said Pena.
The nonprofit Jax Filipinos want to help ease some of that burden by collecting those resources for new Filipino teachers as they start becoming acclimated.
"This is a completely new environment," Pena said. "This is a completely new curriculum. What kind of materials I'm going to buy for my kids, for my students? And on top of these, all I came from a foreign country thousands of miles away, we paid for all this stuff is to get here."
The “Balik Skwela” event helps ease the financial hardship that all teachers face while providing for every student in their classroom.
“We don't get a lot of resources from the district, although they gave us you know, some money for it like an allowance, but it's not enough that would last for the whole school year,” Pena said.
To donate a pack of pencils or paper, the back-to-school block party will take place Friday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the River of Life Full Gospel church.
If you can't come in-person, you can also donate online here.