It’s August in Nashville, so let’s shop for school supplies, science teacher style

Every other Friday for This Is Nashville, I hop out of my host chair and into the passenger seat to ride shotgun with one of our fellow Middle Tennesseans. The school year is about to begin for Metro Nashville Public Schools (and has already begun for other districts). That means it’s time for some school supplies!

In the late summer, shopping for school supplies is big business. Walk through the doors of any big box retailer, and you are bombarded with a plethora of pens, erasers, calculators and binders. A lot has changed since I was a student in the ’80s. I had no idea there were so many different varieties of crayons available — these days you can find waterproof crayons, even metallic ones!

But the day I tagged along with Alex Lute, a fifth grade science teacher at JT Moore Middle School, he wasn’t shopping for crayons.

Alex is entering his 12th year of teaching. It’s a job he truly loves. His main motivation, he says, is the investment in his students. He often says he has three jobs: to keep his students safe, to help them be good humans and — if he has time left — to teach them science.

Alex says he loves to laugh and make his lessons fun. As we walked through Walmart on Charlotte Pike, he was searching for colored tissue paper for the hot air balloon project the class will complete at the end of the school year.

“I scout out fun tissue paper all year long,” he says. “Each group will use a minimum of 21 sheets of tissue paper, and the kids get to pick what they want and design what they want.”

Alex and his fellow faculty members at JT Moore don’t have to spend their own money on supplies, as their school has an active parent-teacher organization that provides funds for instructional supplies and materials through community events and fundraising.

Originally from the south side of Chicago, Alex moved to Nashville 11 years ago. Living on a teacher’s salary in this town is not easy. So, he flips and builds houses on the side.

“People always ask me how I have time for that,” Alex says. “Every teacher needs either a side hustle or a well-paid spouse in order to keep teaching.”

As we shop for school supplies, he tells me about the year ahead. As any good teacher knows, pizza is a fantastic motivator. Alex has what he calls the “95% club,” for students who maintain an overall average of 95%. Every quarter they are treated to pizza and soda. Last year, eight students made the club. This year, he hopes for more.