Christmas came early this year for teachers at Olalla Elementary school.

Educators from the South Kitsap school recently got to roam the aisles of the Office Depot in Gig Harbor and load their shopping carts with $3,600 of supplies for their classrooms.

“Office Depot is like a candy store to teachers. Every aisle has something teachers can use in their classrooms so there was no shortage of things to spend their money on,” principal Ted Macomber said.

Teachers picked up items ranging from poster paper, color pens, pencils, thank you cards and electric pencil sharpeners. Money used to pay for the school supplies was raised from store customers who contributed to the elementary school at checkout.

Teachers were awarded between $100-$400 to spend. Educators participated in a contest at a recent staff meeting to determine how much each would get. Instructors had to guess what the favorite childhood book was of fellow teachers. “It was a way to make this fun,” Macomber said.

He is appreciative of the store’s support of his school. “Office Depot wanted this to be a partnership. They didn’t want to be they just give us the money, and we never talk again,” he said.

The store’s campaign to raise funds for the school began in April and continues through the end of the year, store general manager Racquel Hanson said.

This is the second payout the store has provided to the school. The first installment of approximately $2,000 went for furniture for the school to create a space in the school’s main office for parents to sit and do paperwork and to outfit a new office, Macomber said.