The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘Care closets’ help students fill needs
At Gale Community CHICAGO — Academy in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, a small closet in a classroom holds significant meaning.
When students need a pair of leggings or a tube of toothpaste, or something to wear to the eighth grade dance, the “care closet” is a safe space to fulfill those needs.
“We’ve had students use the care closet unofficially every day,” said Sheila Williams, resource coordinator at Gale Community Academy. “From just accidents that have happened to students who were going on a field trip and wanted to wear something nicer.”
The closet, currently located in a tiny corner in Williams’ classroom, was born out of a 2019 student survey that probed which issues most impacted the student experience at Gale.
Bullying was at the top of the list, Williams said. And when administrators dug deeper into why students were being bullied, many said it was because of their clothing, hair or shoes.
“Then we went even deeper: Why are they getting bullied for their hair or clothes? One of the students said, ‘I’m homeless. I’m living with an aunt, and my mom doesn’t have a lot of money,’” Williams said.
The K-8 Chicago Public Schools facility is in a high-need area, and some parents and guardians simply cannot afford new clothing for their kids, said Williams, and it’s when other students highlight the struggles of their peers that things become even more sensitive.
“The care closet has prevented students from being bullied for their hygiene,” said seventh
grader Rayana Ward, a member of the Student Voice Committee. “Students get their basic needs met even if they are having a tough time at home.”
Eighth grader Mikaila Brown said the student experience has improved since the care closet was initiated. “Students have more confidence when coming to school if they don’t have to worry about what to wear,” she said.
The Student Voice Committee sent an email listing items they are collecting — like deodorant, soap, shampoo, Chapstick, lotion, perfume, cologne, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, Bandaids and tampons.
An early iteration of the care closet in 2019 was a student-organized drive for the most-needed items. It has since evolved into a dedicated space for students to use every day. Now its slated for another face-lift.
Gale will soon unveil a space called the Collaboratory, which includes a new, much larger closet with ample shelving.
The area will include a Cricut machine for craft projects, a Glowforge for digital creation, and a “Zen dome,” a calming space — all part of one big project to bring science, technology, engineering, arts and math learning to the forefront.
The three-room space has been a work in progress for a few years, championed by Val Buchanan, assistant director of leadership development and community engagement at Northwestern University; Jed Shasteen, director of acquisition integration and delivery readiness at Cisco Technologies; and Williams. The project was funded by donations from Buchanan, Shasteen and the organizations Even You Nonprofit and Gale Grows Kids.
By attaching the new care closet to the Collaboratory, students can more freely make trips to the closet without worrying about who’s watching.
“Most people are going to assume students are going to use the space,” Williams said. “This is where we have a 3D printer, a laser engraver, a heat press — so students will assume, ‘Hey they’re going to the makers space,’ not necessarily the care closet.”
Every year since 2019, the staff at Gale built on the concept to make the closet a little bit bigger and farther reaching so students and parents could take advantage of it.
Williams and other staffers make sure it’s a discreet operation. “The whole concept was bullying, right? We know that sometimes if a student is aware of what someone else is going through, that can also be a cause for bullying,” she said. “We try to minimize anyone knowing why a student uses the care closet.”
Students are asked to fill out a Google form on their computers, or simply tell an adult what they need during the school day, and a teacher will accompany them to the care closet to pick out items that are given at the end of the day.