Some would argue they shouldn't need the extra help to begin with...

I grew up in a small farm community in southern Minnesota where everybody knew everybody. That's a theme you hear in every small town across the nation, but I'll take it one step further by saying I knew everyone because both my parents were teachers at our local school. My mom taught 4th-5th grade combination and my dad was one of several English teachers in the high school.

I bring this up because I'll always remember helping my mom set up her classroom in the waning days of my summer vacation by going shopping for school supplies with her and then decorating her bulletin board and restocking her cabinets with extra notepads, pencils and the like. But even way back then I thought it was weird she had to pay for all that stuff herself. Sure, students would get a "list" of supplies we had to have before the first bell would ring but we always had stuff waiting for us when we arrived at our desks on day one.

So this is why I applaud Target for stepping up and offering a 15% discount this week on classroom supplies for back-to-school.

From July 15-21, teachers will be given money off supplies including pens, pencils, crayons, markers, classroom storage, tissues and hand sanitizer by accessing a discount coupon at Target.com/teacherprep.

So while this doesn't seem like much when you consider teachers spend hundreds of dollars every year on supplies and are never reimbursed, this certainly alleviates some of the stress. Every little bit helps.

Bravo, Target.

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