Kind teachers are people who make school at least partially better for kids. Having someone who cares about you can be crucial, especially for those who don't have support outside of the institution's walls.
Carey Arensberg is one of these teachers. After witnessing her pupils struggling with self-care, she decided to create a so-called "care closet." Now, her students can take any products they need in order to flourish. When she posted a video about it on TikTok, netizens fell in love with this idea as quickly as her students did.
More info: TikTok
Sometimes, all a student needs to improve both academically and personally is a caring teacher
Image credits: Carey Arensberg
This teacher, who is also a TikToker, is one of those who deeply cares about her students
For kids, their teachers are like second parents. After all, they spend quite a big portion of their time with them. But this isn’t the only factor – besides teaching them school subjects, teachers also teach them to take care of themselves. Granted, most of the latter responsibility should fall on the parents, but in reality, it doesn’t always happen.
There are many reasons for parents’ neglect. Some parents just don’t have the needed parenting skills, while others suffer from mental illnesses that prevent them from taking care of a child.
Then, there’s poverty. Sometimes what a parent lacks to properly parent is money. Lacking money means they cannot buy their kids necessities for school and self-care. While it’s sad that they struggle, it also should be noted that most of them are trying to do the best they can for their kids.
Fortunately, there are teachers who are wired to help children. They help them not only with their studies but with personal things too.
These teachers come up with various ways to help students in need. Like this one, named Carey Arensberg, who came up with an ingenious idea to do that. She’s not only a teacher, but a TikToker as well. Her account @mrsarensberg4th has over 400k followers. Most of her videos are related to her profession, but from time to time, she sprinkles in something different like singing or her family.
Several teaching-related videos of hers are focused on what she calls the “care closet.” That’s the ingenious idea we mentioned before. In this closet, Carey has stocked up various products that kids might need—ranging from snacks to hygiene items like toothpaste, deodorant, and sanitary pads.
Image credits: Carey Arensberg
She has a care closet in her classroom that's stocked with various products, from snacks to personal hygiene things
Haircare items can also be found in it. Interestingly, haircare was the thing that gave the teacher this idea. In 2020, she noticed a student hiding everything except his eyes. Apparently, he was ashamed of his unkempt hair. Remember what we said about teachers being wired to help their students? Well, that’s when Carey’s teacher instincts kicked in.
She bought the needed products and helped to take care of his hair. That’s when she thought that maybe she could do similar things with other kinds of products. So, with time, she developed the care closet. Now, most of the items are donated, but some are bought by Arensberg herself. In an interview with Bored Panda, she revealed that she has plans in motion to expand it even more.
Providing products is one thing, but convincing children to take and use them is another. That’s why she has crafted quite a convincing speech for it. When someone online wondered how she introduced the closet to the kids, she posted the speech. That’s the main video we’re talking about today, as it went viral and currently sits at over 3M views.
Basically, in this monologue, she keeps telling the kids that it’s okay to need something because everyone does, so they shouldn’t be ashamed to take anything from the closet. That’s why it’s there. She also mentions that she herself sometimes needs certain things, so she doesn’t shy away from taking them from the closet, and neither should they.
Image credits: Max Fischer / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Any student or even a teacher can help themselves from this closet anytime they need something that they don't have
For cases where the children feel too self-conscious to take from it themselves, she tells them to write her a note so she can give them the stuff secretly. How thoughtful, right?
Additionally, she adds that no one should make fun of those who take what they need. They’re a classroom family and families shouldn’t judge each other.
In another of her videos, she said that at first, children are ashamed to take stuff, but with time, they get so used to it that they say it’s one of the things that leave the greatest impact on them at school.
In the interview with us, Carey shared one of the stories about this impact. "Last year was an email that I received from a former student. He had been out of my class for several years and was no longer at our elementary school. He emailed to let us know that his family was struggling financially and wanted to know if he could come get food and hygiene items from our school's food pantry and the Care Closet."
She said it was an incredible feeling to know that she helped someone in need and that he knew he could always count on her: "It's a huge testament to the idea that a school is a community -- not just a building."
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
In fact, she mentioned that the mission of this project is not only to help her own students but also to inspire other teachers to build similar closets in their classrooms. This would build a community of mutual care and respect that lasts even when students graduate and others come in their place.
The mission has started to be fulfilled. In the interview, Carey said she already knows teachers who created their versions of the Care Closets. This warms her heart: "The relationships being built and the lives being changed touches my heart in a way that I can't explain." She added that even the littlest bit of support can change someone's life.
People in the comments full-heartedly agreed with this thought. They were also amazed at how gently Carey talked with the kids and how dedicated to them she was. As a few said, the world needs more teachers like this.
Well, adding to the praise of folks online, we can also say how glad we are to see such a devoted and caring teacher. Sometimes, a kid needs some gentle help to move forward, and professionals like Carey Arensberg are ensuring these kids get that. That’s so beautiful, isn’t it?
Watch the viral video here:
When the teacher posted a video about how she explains the care closet to her students, it went viral and people praised her for being so caring
