Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

A box of supplies sits on a table as Heidi Blurton, second-grader at Lincoln Elementary School in Ottawa, works on a craft project last month at the school. “It’s pretty common for teachers to have to buy some supplies, but I’m seeing more and more students who say they don’t have crayons or some other supply they need,” Teri Howard, Title I Reading teacher at Lincoln, said.