Photo: Engin Akyurt | Unsplash
For most students, having clean clothes to wear to school is not a problem. But for many families at 112th St. S.T.E.A.M. Academy in LA, California, a pair of clean pants and a shirt is such a struggle that it has become one of the main contributors to chronic absenteeism. “Children can be brutally honest sometimes,” said principal Jose Hernandez. “…When kids come with dirty or smelly clothes, the other kids will definitely point it out to them,” making them targets of bullying. To combat this, the school helps families with laundry in various ways. Most recently, the school received a new washer and dryer set from the Rams NFL football team and the Think Watts Foundation, along with $2 million in clothing to schools serving low-income students. Hernandez hopes the machines will ease the pressure on parents and make it easier for students to return to school. This is completely in line with his motto, “I say it again and again: At 112, we are here to serve.”
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