It’s a nightmare nearly anyone can relate to – sitting in school, maybe even on the first day of class, and you’re unprepared. No pencils, no books, nothing. Now the teacher’s calling on you to answer a question. It’s a moment of pure dread.
This might be when some of us wake up. For those who are fortunate to have basic needs in life satisfied, not being prepared for school may indeed by a nightmare…but that’s all it is.
For too many young students in our community, it’s not a nightmare at all – because it’s completely real. That’s why it’s the responsibility of people like TECO team members to fight this nightmare and replace it with the dreams of a promising future that a good education can bring.
That’s exactly what they did once again with a school supplies drive for Metropolitan Ministries, a local nonprofit organization that serves the poor and homeless in the Tampa Bay area. MetroMin, for short, also runs Patricia J. Sullivan Elementary School for economically disadvantaged children.
Enter TECO team members, who donated a storage room full of backpacks, writing supplies, other school accessories and snacks to help children start their school year – maybe their first – the right way.
“Awesome, this is awesome – thanks so much!” comes the reaction of MetroMin staff members at TECO employees pull up outside the Sullivan schools with their donation-packed cars. It’s a simple interaction in the late-summer heat, and it’s a place TECO knows well: we’ve partnered with this nonprofit in Tampa Heights, just up Florida Avenue, time and again.
But each time we do it, the ones behind the effort might wonder a little bit about the specific good that can come from it. Who knows what kinds of dreams might take shape – or grow stronger – in the minds of the children who start the school year in a better place. What doctors, lawyers, astronauts or political leaders might be among them? These were some of the professions people talked to children about back in this blog writer’s childhood.
But the world has changed, and it arguably needs more help. New children in need deserve more help. And maybe the future they stake out will be one that showcases the good they can bring to others in need.
There will be more time to consider that down the road. This is just about the first day of school, with all the promise that it brings – especially when the students in class have the learning tools they need.
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