ANDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — You've heard of them, seen them and maybe collected them. They're Box Tops, usually found in the corner of cereal boxes or home products and have to be cut out.
Box Tops for education has donated more than $900 million to schools since 1996. A lot of schools rely on the extra funds.
But now, you can say goodbye to tedious clipping and saving because a new app will scan the Box Tops.
One Box Top is just 10 cents. The average amount of money Andersonville Elementary School gets after collecting for a year is $2,400.
That's 24,000 coupons parents had to clip and staff had to count, so you could say they're pretty excited to have an app that puts in all the work so their students can have a bigger reward.
"We want the best for our students," said 4th-grade reading teacher Stephanie Meredith.
At the start of every school year, her classroom is filled with supplies and decorations. Every detail comes from her pocketbook.
"People don't understand just what $500 or $50, they don't understand how far a teacher can make that stretch," she said.
So any extra funds she gets are put to good use.
"It makes the kids happy and happy kids are the ones that learn the best."
Those paper tokens go far at Andersonville, giving teachers up to $100 for supplies.
"It can be paper, tissues, hand sanitizer," said Meredith.
"Balls, bats, art material," said reading specialist Susan Jonely.
The new app makes the process for raising money as easy as buy, scan and earn.
"I think with the new app we should be able to get even more. It's easier for parents, the staff," said Jonely.
All you do is buy any product with a Box Top coupon, scan your receipt and automatically the app puts money towards a school of your choice.
It's a simple task but can change so much inside a classroom where every detail matters.
"If I can make them happy and they feel loved in my classroom, that's when they're learning," said Meredith.