The teachers at one Texas school say they saw a need and they filled it. No, they weren’t just talking about an educational need. They were talking about something entirely different; something that is usually done at home.

The last thing a student should have to worry about when at school is being bullied because they don’t have clothes that fit, or clothes that are clean. Unfortunately, for many low income families being able to buy clothes for their children isn’t always something they can afford, and neither is the laundry detergent to wash them.

A couple teachers at Pleasant Run Elementary saw students that were embarrassed by their clothing, and one says she even had a student tell her she wouldn’t be coming to school anymore because she didn’t have any clothes.

Social studies teacher Tracie Thompson says when the student told her she wouldn’t be coming to school because she didn’t have any clothes, she knew she had to do something. With the parents permission, she bought the girl clothes and then started washing them at home for her so she could focus on her education.

Armand Allen is another teacher that helped his students outside of school by washing their clothes. He says that no student should have to worry about having clean clothes so he was helping a few students by taking their laundry home and washing it for them.

When school administrators realized what the teachers were doing, they decided to pitch in and help the teachers’ cause. The school’s truancy coordinator, Dona Mitchell applied for a grant to add a laundry room to the school.

Through the grant, she was awarded $2,700 and with help from Best Buy, was able to buy washers and dryers for all four campuses in the district, including Pleasant Run Elementary.

Now the teachers are able to help more students by making sure they can focus on their education instead of the little things like clean clothes. The teachers say it takes no time at all to do the little extra things, and they’re glad they can do their part. They believe it truly takes a village to raise a child.

We salute these wonderful, giving teachers who truly care about their students’ education by alleviating their worries about coming to school with clean clothes.