Helping hands: Kansas City teachers receive cleaning, organizing services
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Several Kansas City Public School District teachers will have their classrooms ready to go on day one with the help of neighborhood volunteers.
The school year is right around the corner for KS, just weeks away on August 19. Students are gathering school supplies, parents figuring out driving arrangements, and teachers are tweaking those lesson plans.
Some teachers at Richardson Early Learning Center and Woodland Early Learning Center are going to be showing up with the room ready because of volunteer help cleaning, disinfecting, organizing, and anything else they ask for.
“We work really hard to create this beautiful sense of belonging from day one,” said Richardson Early Learning Center Principal Theresa Brandt.
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The United Way of Greater Kansas City, in partnership with its Women United donor network, cleared out time on the schedule to help clear out the classroom space. It’s now the 8th year of this cleaning collaboration, and the excitement grows each August for it, according to Brandt.
There were around 60 volunteers split between the two schools that worked from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
“Just the sense of feeling like they’re ready to go and excited to learn,” said Women United Chair Kim Herman about what it means for teachers and students.
United Way and Women United also put together goodie bags filled with snacks, water bottles, and more for the teachers when the day is done.
“We know what they go through throughout the school year, it’s challenging for them sometimes,” said Herman. “We want to make sure that they know that they feel loved and appreciated.”
“When you’re a teacher, it’s hard to leave sometimes get an actual lunch break or time away, it’s little bits, as small as they are as a rice crispy treat really makes a difference,” said Brandt.
It’s not a huge ask, but it is a very kind thing to do. Spend a few hours of the day to just clean. Not many people would volunteer around their homes for that.
Brandt said the small act of kindness shows collaboration for all those wanting to improve children’s lives in our community as they build relationships for the students’ academic and personal growth.
“It is a village, we can not do this alone, teachers can not do it alone, I can not do it alone, we all need each other,” said Brandt.
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