A Genius Idea I Wish Every School Would Try

Plus: Helping Western NC.

Hey y’all, just want to share that everything is A-OK in my region of North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, but the reports coming out of the western part of the state about three hours from Durham is really, really bad. I know we get bombarded with so much bad news, and so many climate and man-made disasters it’s hard to tune in for another one. But I fear it’s not an exaggeration to say that this is a Hurricane Katrina-level event for large areas of NC, and some communities may never be the same. If you want to help, consider donating to established non-profits working on the ground to be sure the money is getting directly to people in need. I’ve donated to the United Way’s Helene relief fund and World Central Kitchen.

To support immediate rescue needs, The Cajun Navy, which is a non-profit citizen-led search and rescue effort has arrived in Western NC and is hard at work. And while I’m often cautious about GoFundMes and making direct donations because that route can lack accountability, I have to say I’m following the work of Mountain Mule Packer Ranch that are using Mules, yes, MULES! to get food, water, and medicine to people still completely cut off from the world due to closed roads. You can Venmo one of the owners of the company that has transitioned to disaster relief (the last 4 digits are 1383.)

Given everything going on in the world right now, I’m treating myself and everyone else to a positive story palate cleanser.

Ok, onto the main event.

A lot of my work highlights problems families face, but one of my favorite things to do is also share meaningful solutions. This one comes from my own backyard with a lesson about how schools can create a culture of care, equity, and reduce the “every family for themselves” mentality that leads to huge personal burdens and endless mental load. 

This year, our school Principal Tyler Steketee, in partnership with our PTA, has fully rolled out a series of universal programs. They include School Supplies for All, Snacks for All, and Teacher Appreciation for All.

I LOVE THIS, and I’ll explain why.

Our PTA is asking for a suggested donation of $225 per kid (and FYI, PTA donations are always tax deductible!), which can also be paid monthly. Using this money, they are buying all school supplies for every kid at bulk prices, and teachers get to pick exactly what items they want. (From my perspective, this is 1000% better than getting a school supply list around 14 hours before school starts, and rushing to Target to stare at empty shelves, as has happened in previous years.) Every kid has the right supplies, and every teacher gets what she wants. This donation also supports a Snacks for All initiative, which provides additional allergen-free snacks outside of the school lunch program that include fresh fruit for all classes daily. This reduces food insecurity, parents needing to buy and pack snacks for individual kids and/or the whole class, and reduces life-threatening allergy risks. (Previously, we’d get a signup genius with vague instructions to bring in bags of chips to feed an entire class for a week.) This also funds Teacher Appreciation for All, which all teachers benefit from and isn’t based on the wealth of the kids in their classes. It includes special meals and treats throughout the year along with a small cash gift at the end of the year. (While we still do some additional gifts teacher gifts, I love knowing every teacher is getting something without individually purchasing something for six classroom teachers, specials teachers, and aftercare teachers spread among three kids.)

The PTA also estimates this saves families about $150 per year based on buying snacks and school supplies for their kids and the classrooms individually at retail prices. Not managing three different school supply lists, three different snack signup lists, and a dozen+ ways to appreciate teachers? Priceless. 

Obviously, not all families can afford a $225 PTA donation, so the PTA asks families who can contribute more to consider doing so and also holds additional fundraisers throughout the year to make up the difference. Personally, I have never been happier to cut a check and am grateful we have the means to do so. 

Tyler Steketee, who’s starting his second year as principal of our school, was inspired to implement these universal programs from his own experiences as an administrator, teacher, and now parent to Elementary-age twins who previously attended a public school where he wasn’t principal. “We’d buy $250 worth of school supplies for them each year, and half of it would come back unused at the end of the year,” says Tyler, which frustrated him after they’d scrambled to purchase them in the first place on short notice. As an administrator, he saw how inequities create stigma for lower-income kids. “We have 20 kids in a classroom and before we were doing this, we’d have four or five that wouldn't have all of the things that they needed. And so they'd have to ask. The implications of a student having to get up in front and say, ‘I don't have this thing’ has an emotional toll. Eventually, it gets back to the school admin, and we're ordering it for them, but it takes time to order.” So while there was some logistical setup for the program on the front end, there’s payoff for students and less work for teachers and administrators to haphazardly fill in the gaps throughout the year.

The reason I’m writing about such a hyper-local initiative is because I think it’s completely replicable. Getting these universal programs in place at the school level took principal initiative and a supportive PTA and parent community, who were bought into the idea and willing to help and fundraise. It’s a beautiful example of how a few dedicated people can make an impact in a relatively short amount of time within one community through a universal program. And it’s a reminder we don’t have to wait for federal or state governments to get their butts in gear to give us universal programs. “Universal” is possible even within the relatively small community of one public elementary school. 

While not all schools have PTAs or enough families who can make three-figure PTA donations, I still think it’s possible to apply this idea pretty broadly. I’m not an expert, but it may be possible to fund some of these initiatives like school supplies at lower-income schools through federal Title I funds (our school was Title I until this year.)  Many parents spend time volunteering at their kid’s school or for activities that their kids benefit from. If we channel that volunteer energy into advocating for simpler, universal programs, we can do major good in our communities, while also reducing costs and mental load for parents. 

I’d love to hear from you, Double Shifters. Please share stories of any universal programs that are working at the school or district level (I’ll be writing about universal free lunch in the coming weeks!) OR feel free to share your frustration with “every family for themselves” requests you are faced with from your child’s school. 

Update: here’s some additional information from my school’s PTA president on how to pull off Snacks for All!

How To Bring Universal Snack Program to Your School