Fifteen million children in the US don’t have money for school supplies. Fifteen Million! Due to this and many other reasons, Kenwood’s Ms. Barton and Ms. Reaves decided to create a Grab and Go station here at Kenwood High School. This helps students who can’t afford to go buy school supplies. Ms. Barton and Ms. Reaves have even thought of students’ personal hygiene and put a couple necessary hygiene items at the grab and go.

Students who don’t have money to afford school supplies, often go to school without them, creating a deficient they have to overcome against their peers before they even walk in the classroom. According to a 20-year teaching veteran “Without supplies, students can’t participate in the lesson. Academically, they won’t do well.”

Some other schools including our school are helping students with obtaining necessary school supplies. Though teachers often offer supplies, here at Kenwood students can visit the Grab and Go station to get needed school supplies of items teachers may not be able to provide.

This Grab and Go station is very important because it helps students without school supplies to do better in school now that they are better prepared. Ms. Reaves and Ms. Barton thought this grab and go would be beneficial because “Many students do not have access to school supplies and basic hygiene supplies. Students can take items without having to ask for them and without embarrassment or judgment.”

Ms. Barton says she was motivated to do this because she shares, “I saw the idea on social media and felt Kenwood could benefit from a grab and go.” She shared the idea with Ms. Reaves who was “able to secure funding for the rack and the initial supplies”.

At the Grab and Go Station there are a great variety of things students can grab, like pencils and notebooks, toothpaste and feminine hygiene products. The Grab and Go station is open “all day, everyday” and is located “outside the health suite” and is free for “anyone in need”.

Sources:

Chillag, Amy. “15 million children don’t have money for school supplies; here’s how you can help them”. CNN Wires. 19 August 2019. Web accessed 29 September 2022.