While teachers have a rewarding job, it can also be extremely challenging, Not only because they work to instill education into the minds of our children, but because sometimes, they’re faced with difficult questions and split-second decision making.
Take Brooke Goins, a teacher at Jacksboro Elementary School in Tennessee. One of her students recently asked her a question that caught her completely off guard. However, when she posted about the experience on her Facebook, it quickly went viral and led to the idea to create a school pantry.
“Today I cried at work,” Goins started off her post. “Not because I hate my job, or that it is just too hard (it really is). Today I cried for a child, a child who so innocently talked about food, and the lack of it.”
Goins continued to explain how one of her students asked when the “lady that puts food in his backpack was coming.” While she wasn’t sure of the answer, she made sure to ask him what he needed in case she could help. “I asked what was in the bag that he liked so much,” she wrote. “I asked if it was the macaroni bowls or the” crackers, he said no. I asked if it was the spaghetti o’s, he laughed and told me no that they didn’t have those.”
The answer after that is when she lost it. He looked at me and said, ‘those little o’s (as he made a small circle with his hand), we don’t have those at my house, but when I do have them they give me a warm belly and help me sleep.’”
“No kid should ever be hungry, ever,” Goins firmly wrote. She decided to text her teacher friends and do something about the situation.
And they did. They pooled their money together to get food for this little boy and others like him. “Remember, hearing people say that we spend all of our money in our classrooms? We spend it to make sure that our kids have what they need to succeed, and today we bought food,” Goins wrote. “Yep, we put our money together and made sure that this sweet baby had some spaghetti o’s!”
She later added in an “edit” to the post about how overwhelmed she was from all the love the original story garnered that they are now starting a food pantry to help others in need.
Anyone can help. All you need to do is send any donations to 164 Jacksboro Elementary School Road, Jacksboro, TN 37757. Just put “attention FOOD PANTRY” on the box.
You can read the entire thing here.
How sweet is this post? How will you help a student in need this holiday season?