The shoe doesn't have to be a glass slipper to break
The kids were starting to line up for breakfast before school. Intermediate teacher, let's call her Ms. Conduct, noticed that Jenny and Johnny were there, but their sister Jeri (in her class) was not, so she asked.
Johnny: "She has an appointment."
Jenny: "No she doesn't. Mom's going to call her in sick and say she has an appointment, but really her shoes broke. She doesn't have any shoes to wear, so she can't come to school."
Jeri had been wearing the same pair of strappy sandals since the first day of school, so we weren't surprised to hear this. But stay home for lack of shoes?
Ms. Conduct took Jenny by the hand and said, "Let's go check this out." They walked across the street to the rental the kids & mom shared with a relative and talked to Jeri. The story was true; she had no school shoes. Ms. Conduct, never at a loss, asked, "What size do you need?" She raided the stock of spare shoes in the gym office, brought two pair to the needy girl and asked her to choose one.
On the way to school, Jeri commented, "I'm so glad you came over. I didn't want to ruin my perfect attendance."
To add to the backstory: I found a spare pair of shoes for the younger Jenny earlier this year. She, too, had sandals and nothing else. The boy was a little better off.
And then....a week later, the family moved. The kids will attend another school across town.
At least they all have shoes.
Stumble It!
Johnny: "She has an appointment."
Jenny: "No she doesn't. Mom's going to call her in sick and say she has an appointment, but really her shoes broke. She doesn't have any shoes to wear, so she can't come to school."
Jeri had been wearing the same pair of strappy sandals since the first day of school, so we weren't surprised to hear this. But stay home for lack of shoes?
Ms. Conduct took Jenny by the hand and said, "Let's go check this out." They walked across the street to the rental the kids & mom shared with a relative and talked to Jeri. The story was true; she had no school shoes. Ms. Conduct, never at a loss, asked, "What size do you need?" She raided the stock of spare shoes in the gym office, brought two pair to the needy girl and asked her to choose one.
On the way to school, Jeri commented, "I'm so glad you came over. I didn't want to ruin my perfect attendance."
To add to the backstory: I found a spare pair of shoes for the younger Jenny earlier this year. She, too, had sandals and nothing else. The boy was a little better off.
And then....a week later, the family moved. The kids will attend another school across town.
At least they all have shoes.
Labels: it's the economy, teachers live at school
Stumble It!
posted @7:40 AM
7 Comments:
If everyone took the time to notice the people around them and help them when and where they could this would would be a much nicer place. I'm enjoying your blog!
I am so glad you both took notice and action. My heart goes out to them. A wonderful story.
Wow. I am so glad their are people like you and your friends to act like you did. It breaks my heart that there are kids who don't want to miss school, but don't have any shoes to wear.
Oh Daisy. This warmed my heart so much. I was always sheltered from the people who are living in poverty. It's so easy to imagine that this stuff doesn't happen in America. I was either home schooled, attended private schools, or lived in relatively wealthy school districts. -- I'm kind of in love with you now. :)
Teachers have such interesting stories. You really understand the number of kids that go without in this country. It's a lovely story, I hope they are well at their new school.
Heartbreaking and then so uplifting. And then sadness again because kids' feet just keep growing.
Oh, that's sad. We once bought a family a Christmas tree and pretended that we had an 'extra' so they could have one -- like this, a family at school.
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