CLYDE — Be greedy.

Teachers don't often say such things to their students, but new instructors heard that mantra over and over Tuesday afternoon. During the third annual Beginning Teachers Shower, more than 40 newly minted instructors at Haywood County Schools were encouraged to not be polite as they grabbed gobs of supplies for their classrooms.

The free, mad-dash shopping spree was set up inside the Education Center in Clyde and featured tables upon tables heaped with pencils, white boards, books, crayons and so much more. When set lose, the first-year teachers crammed all they could (and then some) into boxes and bags, and often giggled and smiled as they hauled off their loot.

Kevin Kimbrough, a 24-year-old band teacher at Bethel Middle School, looked happy but a bit sheepish to be ...