Not all heroes wear capes, but some of them have huge backpacks. Assistant headteacher Zane Powles who works at Western Primary School in Grimsby, in Lincolnshire, is being hailed as a hero. He walks more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) each day to deliver free school lunches to his students.
All the food (not even counting the homework) weighs 40 pounds (18 kilograms) and Zane visits at least 78 students daily. The man is a former soldier, so he’s used to toughing it out. Zane also uses the food deliveries as the perfect chance to check in on the kids and see how they’re doing.
Meanwhile, headteacher Kim Leach and one more teacher deliver 25 additional free lunches by car to families who live further away. Scroll down for Bored Panda's interview with Zane!
Meet local hero Zane Powles from Grimsby. He delivers free school lunches to his students every single day
Image credits: HeroesOfCovid19
"The reaction from the children and parents I have been delivering to has been fantastic and positive. The children come out all happy and smiling, say hi, grab their food, and then start looking through the bag. They then chat with me about what they’ve been doing and how they’re feeling. Most of them are doing very well," Zane told Bored Panda.
Zane walks 5 miles each day and carries 40 pounds of food with him. He also checks to see if the students are doing alright
Image credits: @JaiPowles
"The parents love to chat as well as in a lot of the cases I may be the only other adult they see. I try and gauge how they are as well as their mental health will have a massive impact on the children’s. I try and support them as much as I can."
The teacher's selfless act quickly caught everyone's attention
Image credits: MariaConyard
The teacher told us that a lot of people come out of their homes and clap for him, say 'well done,' beep their car horns as they drive by, and want to chat with him. All the attention and being called a hero/legend embarrasses me and makes me feel a little silly but it’s nice to hear that the job I’m doing is appreciated."
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"Hundreds of people have said I should be recognized in one way or another for the effort I’m going to. The appreciation is nice but it also feels overwhelming for me."
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We also spoke with Zane about the poverty issue in Grimsby. He said that it would take a big move from politicians to resolve the issues, but added that seeing Grimsby in a positive light in the media has been great.
"I hope it’s been well received by the people of Grimsby as well as they’re an awesome group of down to earth people. When Grimsby is usually in the media it’s mostly a negative article. What this story shows is that the town is full of proud good people who don’t get enough positive media. I hope this media attention converts into support for the council and the people of Grimsby."
Zane thinks that the lockdown will stay in place for at least a few more weeks and will be eased bit by bit. "In my opinion, I can’t see primary schools being fully opened until September and this is because social distancing is not possible and the measures we as a staff will have to go to will make the school days extremely difficult and the changes needed would have a significant impact on the learning of the children."
He added: "However, I feel that the transitional years could be allowed in (nursery/year6) at first to prepare them for their next step in the learning journey. That being said, I can’t see this happening until the beginning of June at the earliest."
The teacher revealed that his school is still open and has been all the time, including during the Easter Holidays. "It will continue to stay open for children of key workers, vulnerable children with social workers, and EHCP. We also are happy to take other children based on individual circumstances as we know our families very well so we will support them as much as we can, where we can."
The teacher goes into detail about what he does in this video. Have a look
Image credits: looknorthBBC
Image credits: looknorthBBC
Image credits: looknorthBBC
Image credits: looknorthBBC
Image credits: looknorthBBC
Zane places the packed lunches on the students’ doorsteps, knocks on the door, and then waits nearby until someone picks up the food.
According to Zane, he felt humbled by the responses to his food deliveries and also revealed that a lot of the students’ parents were happy to have some form of “adult contact” when he arrives.
Zane stayed humble even after being at the center of attention
Image credits: zaneyteacher
Image credits: zaneyteacher
Image credits: zaneyteacher
“The parents and children come to the window or the door to wave and say hello, some of the parents want to have a little chat—I think I’m the only adult contact they get to talk to some days,” he told the Independent.
“I’m usually quite a private person, so all the attention is kind of embarrassing, but we’re all just doing our job—the welfare of our students is our top priority and we’re just doing the best we can.”
Here's another video that shows how he goes about his day
Image credits: looknorthBBC
Image credits: looknorthBBC
Image credits: looknorthBBC
Image credits: looknorthBBC
Zane felt overwhelmed and embarrassed by all the attention he was getting
Image credits: zaneyteacher
The heroic teacher even won an award for being such an inspiration to us all
Image credits: zaneyteacher
Zane pointed out that helping kids is a team effort and that he isn’t the only one doing “the donkey work”—the other teachers are pitching in to help out the community.
“Quite a lot of the families are struggling—they don’t want to drag their kids out to the shop, some of them are scared to leave their house. So I’m 100 percent happy to help and be there for them.”
A staggering 41 percent of children who go to Western Primary School are eligible for free school meals. While End Child Poverty states that 34 percent of all Grimsby kids live in poverty.
People thought that Zane was a brilliant human being
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