Valerie George: A Teacher's Blessing

As a special education resource teacher, Valerie George is always inspired by her students. When she realized a large number of students were absent from school all too often, Valerie began to question why. "When I notice a student that I haven’t seen in a few days, I would say to them, 'I missed you yesterday, why weren’t you at school?' I have heard many reasons that range from not having any clean clothes to wear, to not having the proper shoes or clothes to wear, depending on the season." It was during this moment that the metaphorical light bulb moment happened - Valerie knew what she had to do. Wanting to help her students beyond the walls of the classroom, Valerie created "New Soles for Our Feet and Soles," a Donors Choose project. "I noticed students with holes in their shoes, dingy worn-out shoes, shoes falling apart, shoes that were too tight or too big, or improper for P.E. I sat in bed that night and talked to my husband about some of the things that I was noticing. I wondered if any of it was related to a student’s attendance at school. We talked about our childhood and all of the things that we were blessed with growing up and one of the things that made us feel happy about going to school was having a decent pair of shoes on our feet." Valerie didn't want to sit around and talk about it - she wanted to create a solution and put it into action as soon as possible. "I wanted to do my part by providing students with resources that would help with their confidence and encourage them to want to attend school each day, so I decided to put together a project for sneakers the very next day. I selected a variety of gender-neutral shoes in diferent sizes. Within a month, the project was fully funded! I worked with our school’s guidance counselor and nurse on this first project. The shoes were given to students that demonstrated a need for them, based throughout the school year." The shoe project was a huge success and was able to help many students. The following year, Valerie chose another project called "Shoes That Feel Good on Our Feet," which was fully funded in less than a month after creation. Next up was "New School Year, New Book!" She elaborates, "I noticed that students would begin the year with brand new book bags, and about mid-school year, straps on the book

Valerie George

A TEACHER'S BLESSINGS

“I wanted to do my part by providing students with resources that would help with their confdence and encourage them to want to attend school each day, so I decided to put together a project for sneakers the very next day. I selected a variety of gender-neutral shoes in different sizes. Within a month, the project was fully funded!...”

bags would be broken. I would see holes in book bags from the weight of their books, and some students would end up losing their book bags. I selected book bags for this project that were diferent sizes for the younger and older students in a variety of colors that were gender-neutral and solid colors that I felt the students would love." Some other projects Valerie has created include "Operation Warm," which provided brand new winter coats to children in need. Rather than being limited to just the school and its students, Operation Warm was a community project so that coats could be delivered to any student in need. "There have been a few students that have benefited from the coats, but I still have many coats that will fit students from ages 5 to 14. I hope that I can get the coats distributed to children in the community before the winter months begin. If any agency within the community is willing to work with me with this community project and future Operation Warm projects that I will be doing, I would love for them to reach out to me." Clean Clothes is another project in the works that Valerie hopes to see come to life soon. Through this project, Valerie hopes to bring a washer, dryer, clothes bags, and detergent to her school so kids who are absent from school due to not having any clean clothes, can do their laundry before leaving the school campus. The project is fully funded; however, there currently is no space for this at her school at this time. "I pray that I am able to re-launch this project submission again one day." Valerie's most recent project is "Normalcy and New Book Bags after COVID-19." This was her first project since the pandemic. Created in May 2021, it was fully funded by September. Valerie's projects have reached many students at Greenwood Elementary. "I work closely with the school’s guidance counselor and teachers. They are aware of the resources from the projects and they know that they can send me an email about a student that they believe may benefit from one of the items from the project. I will personally go to that student’s classroom and bring that student to my classroom. The student has the option to keep their old book bag or shoes or dispose of them. For students receiving the shoes, I call the parent(s) or guardian(s) before the student is allowed to select a pair of shoes. Before the student is able to receive one of the items from the project, I converse with them about the current condition of their book bag or shoes. I joke in a friendly conversation with them such as, 'Hey, you have been working so hard that you wore your bookbag or shoes out! Your teacher (or whoever the staf member is) informed me that you have been working so hard and they selected you to get a brand new bookbag or pair of shoes. How does that sound?' I do this because I want them to feel appreciated and comfortable without the feeling of embarrassment."

Her passion for helping children both inside and outside of the classroom is what makes Valerie a truly special educator, the kind our children need in these uncertain times. "When I see that there is a need for a child that I have in my power to help, I am going to do it. My dream is to one day set up a pantry at the school where kids can come in discreetly and get items that they need: food, hygiene items, clothing, etc. I will continue to work on repeating the book bag and shoe projects each year as needed and many other projects that I have identified that will benefit all of our students at Greenwood. I deeply care for all of the children that I come in contact with. I love seeing their faces when they walk through the doors of Greenwood and I miss them and worry when I don’t see them. To see the genuine appreciation and joy that they have on their faces as they receive their new bookbag, pair of shoes or coat truly warms my heart. Most importantly, to see them with a new level of confidence and them wanting to come back to school the next day to show of their new items makes me proud to know that answering a call I took eight years ago to teach was truly a task that God has given me to do."

If you would like to donate clothing items to the students of Greenwood, please visit Valerie's Donors Choose page, where she also has her upcoming projects listed donorschoose.org/mrs-vgeorge. You can also email her at valerie.george@fsd1.org.