Parsippany High School Student Collecting Supplies For Teachers

PARSIPPANY, NJ—Parsippany High School junior Landon Weiss comes from a family of educators. So when the pandemic and subsequent economic downturn happened last spring, he knew the fall would bring more challenges.

As September approached, Weiss began to organize a collection for specific supplies teachers would need for the school year, including everything from electronics to tissues. He called it Supporting Parsippany Schools.

"I knew how tough this year would be for teachers," said Weiss, "[Teachers] spend a significant amount of their own money for their classes each year, and I knew that with the generosity of our community during these difficult times, our teachers and schools could benefit from this as well."

He enlisted volunteers and even contacted the school board, which helped him set up the operation to be as efficient and tailored as possible. The board also put him in contact with administrators in the township's schools.

"The principals and PTA Presidents at each school also helped out tremendously by sending me lists of the supplies they wanted," Weiss said.

Once the project was up and running, it caught the attention of Front Line Morris, a local group that provided free meals to front-line workers. Soon, Front Line was on board helping Weiss.

"We had funds left over from our Front Line Campaign and decided this was definitely a project worth using those funds on," said Chris Mazzarella, of Front Line. "It would be crazy not to want to help the teachers and students in our town."

Weiss said he's still collecting supplies, and his goal is to deliver them to Parsippany teachers by Sept. 25. He added that the support from the Parsippany community has been a big driving force in his efforts, and his motive was simple.

"The members of our community have shown a tremendous amount of support through their donations.," Weiss said. "I thought it might be helpful to start the year without that added stress for the teachers."