As Kansas City families across the metro prepare for back to school, there’s a silent stress bubbling with area teachers – how will they get all the preparation done to welcome kids back with open arms?
Volunteers from Women United, an auxiliary fundraising group with United Way of Greater Kansas City, spent the day at Richardson Elementary getting classrooms cleaned and decorated, organizing school supplies, and helping to prepare the school to welcome students back for the new school year. With the pressure of the current teacher shortage, and the labor and financial burden placed on current teachers to prepare for the arrival of students, this activity planned by Women United is one of the many integral ways support can be provided to schools and teachers in this unprecedented time. But, for United Way – this is a normal volunteer activity.
United Way of Greater Kansas City is a prominent problem-solving organization in our community, with a large focus on education support in Kansas City. The organization collaborated with Women United to select Richardson Elementary as a high-needs school to focus on for this event, which classifies itself as a trauma-informed school serving the neediest of needy families and students, most of which are on free-and-reduced lunch and living at the poverty line.
