With a penny here and a quarter there, teacher Terressa Gause manages to buy all of the supplies she needs to stock her classroom in time for the start of the new school year.As a single mother of two, Gause - who teaches fourth grade at Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary School in Ash, N.C. - sticks to a simple credo: "Buy on sale or clearance."Gause is one of hundreds of teachers across Horry and Georgetown counties and Brunswick County, N.C., who are welcoming back students in the next nine days. Although the economy is weak and school budgets have been cut across the state, local teachers are simply doing this year what they usually do: dipping into their own pockets and getting creative to supplement their supply allowances.
