Just a few months ago, students and teachers across the nation experienced an unprecedented shift in our education system - in a matter of days, they transitioned from a physical classroom setting to an entirely virtual one. While most universities found themselves prepared for the circumstances with a plethora of virtual tools and online learning resources at their fingertips, the majority of public grade schools across the nation found this transition outside of their realm of experience - something their staff, teachers, and students had never prepared themselves for, let alone expected.
This transition was a mentally, emotionally and economically exhausting venture for students and teachers, especially those in low income communities and underprivileged school districts. Students in low income districts were far less likely to participate in online-learning activities. According to a survey of 1500 people by advocacy group ParentsTogether, four out of 10 of the poorest U.S. students were accessing remote learning as little as once a week or less. Contrarily, in families making more than $100,000 a year, 83% of kids were doing virtual learning every day, with the majority engaged over two hours a day.
Living in a relatively affluent Dallas suburb, Manogna and I realized we had the resources and support necessary to do something impactful. We wanted to use our advantage to do something to uplift these students and teachers when they walk back into their classes in August. After all that these students and teachers had been through these past months, we wanted to come up with a simple way to get them excited about learning and teaching again, excited about being in the classroom again! Voila, the idea for Project Kind Packs was born! As student ambassadors of the Leaders Readers Network, an education equity and literacy organization, Manogna and I had the perfect partner organization to guide us through this journey.
Our mission here is simple: to spread kindness, give words of encouragement, and provide school supplies/classroom resources for DFW teachers and students when they return to school in August! Our goal is to put a Kind Pack in the hands of over 300 students and 20 teachers. When you donate or volunteer with us, you make our goal one step closer to reality. More importantly, you bring us one step closer to making these teachers and students smile.
