When it comes to shopping for back-to-school supplies, parents can quickly spend a lot of time and money trawling through shops to get all the items their children need for the new term.

A convenient solution has been created by teacher Tracy Hayward, who has launched her business, School Boxez, offering busy parents a one-stop-shop for getting their children’s school supplies in time for September.

Her school supplies idea won the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation’s Rocket Pitch Competition last November. Now she is encouraging parents to utilise her service, which gathers all the educational materials each child needs — from pens and highlighters to calculators, folders and much more — in order to save parents time, energy and money.

The mother-of-three, who is a business teacher at Dellwood Middle School, came up with the idea for School Boxez after seeing first-hand the struggles parents faced when it came time for back-to-school shopping.

“As a teacher myself and the mom of three children at three different schools, I always found it frustrating shopping for school supplies in August or September. You typically find a handful of items at one store, then have to keep looking around until you locate all the other items you need for your child for that particular school year. By the time you’re finished, both your time and money are all spent,” she said.

“I thought there had to be an easier way, one that would take the guess work out and deliver everything parents need, without the stress or fuss. Then one day, while watching CNN, I heard about a company overseas who offered something similar. I figured why can’t we take that model and apply it to the Bermuda market to provide an easy and cost-effective solution for parents on the island?”

To prepare for this month’s launch, Mrs Hayward spent hours speaking with public and private schools to get access to their school supply list.

Orders can now be placed by contacting Mrs Hayward by e-mail or telephone. It is hoped that in the near future there will also be a website to allow parents or guardians even quicker access to the school box their child needs, based on their age, school and grade level.

Mrs Hayward had a soft launch for School Boxez for parents at Dellwood Middle School last year. She said the feedback was incredible, and she decided to expand to include all other middle and high schools on the island.

“I’ve devoted the past few months to creating these boxes, so that when people call me I have supplies ready,” she said.

“It’s a prepaid model, which streamlines the process and gets the boxes to clients that much quicker. I’m excited to see how people will respond to their boxes and hope the business will continue to grow and become an annual tradition for parents when it comes time for back-to-school.”

• School boxes are available for a set price between $75 and $85. To place an order, e-mail schoolboxez@gmail.com or call 747-8066.