Care closet for school

Vanessa Bateman and Heather Malick headed up the formation of the closet of clothes, shoes and toiletries at Niota Elementary School, which has students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

“We want to strengthen our community, and schooling is just one aspect of that.”

Students can't be expected to learn when they don't even own a toothbrush or other basic necessities. Thankfully, educators are solving the problem.

« Gloves, shoes, belts, pants, sweatshirts, hairbrushes, whatever they need, I've got it, » said school custodian Carolyn Collins, who gives away items to kids in need.

So teachers are stocking "hygiene pantries" in their classrooms to provide kids with essential personal care items.

Through a desire to support students from all walks of life, with a variety of needs, and to eliminate outside stress on students so they can learn and thrive in education, the Cambridge-Isanti Schools Care Closets were developed.

What started off as a student government project has become a full-time resource for teens in the North Carolina school who don’t have enough food at home.

In a TikTok video, a teacher, Yennifer Castillo, showed followers her "take what you need bin" that she has for her classroom and sparked a conversation about how underpaid and under-appreciated public school educators are.