Old School Tutoring and Toys offering unique school supplies service

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (WXXV) — The heat and humidity is only just beginning, but Summer Break is nearing its end for students in South Mississippi.

With the back-to-school season comes squeezing in last-minute trips, meeting new teachers and, of course, shopping for all those classroom essentials. It’s a task that was once difficult for Jeryn Frederic, who has five school-aged children to shop for.

“We bought in bulk, so we would buy cases of pencils and cases of binders and cases of crayons,” Frederic said.

Other parents across the Coast probably know the struggle of going to a big box store just before the start of a new school year and not being able to get all of the items on their lists… but one Pascagoula business has a solution to that problem.

“The purpose of our supply bags is to make it really easy on parents so they can enjoy their summer, their last few weeks with their children,” said Christina Bates, the owner of Old School Tutoring and Toys. “We do all the shopping, we take care of everything and we make sure that they are prepared for school.”

Since 2017, Old School Tutoring and Toys has taken the hassle out of back to school shopping with a service that allows families to purchase made-to-order school supplies bags. These bags are customizable, less expensive and delivered to schools on the Coast.

“Parents can go onto our website,” Bates explained. “They can type in their school name, see if it’s available. If we don’t have that list up or we don’t have a partnership, we will gladly take your list. You can email it to us, text it to us, call us… and we will get you a price specifically for your bag.”

Saying it’s been an A-plus service would be an understatement.

“We have gone — my first year, I packed 50 bags,” Bates said. “We are [at] over 500 bags, and we’re trying to grow even larger this year. It’s one of those things… once the parents do it, they come back every year because it is a service that they feel they get a lot of value out of.”

Bates is a big believer in giving back to the community — so much so, that profits from the boxes will go on to have an impact on education across the entire Mississippi Coast.

“We’re giving back that time to parents, we’re giving back that time to children so you’re not having to use that,” Bates explained. “But also, for every bag that’s purchased and we’ve partnered, we give back 10 dollars for every bag to that school.”

On top of this, Old School Tutoring and Toys is giving community members a chance to change a child’s life through essential boxes.

“So our essential box is a donation box,” Bates said. “We offer an elementary essential box, so if somebody wants to — they don’t have children in school, but wants to help — they can go online and buy an essential box. We will fill that and then we will give that away to a family in need.

Even though the weeks leading up to the First Day of School are stressful for everyone, Bates reminds families of one thing.

“We’re the easy button,” Bates said, laughing.