By: Casey Morgan
Updated: Aug. 10, 2016
When it comes to middle school students facing attendance challenges, it’s easy to point fingers at parents or the children themselves, throwing up your hands in frustration at what appears to be an insurmountable issue. But what if the solution is as simple as providing clean clothes? Whirlpool has tackled this seemingly minor concern and achieved remarkable outcomes.
Last year, Whirlpool launched the Care Counts Program, donating seventeen pairs of washers and dryers to school districts in St. Louis and Fairfield, California. Schools then invited students struggling with attendance to bring their laundry in to be cleaned during class hours.
The results were extraordinary: over 90% of participating students showed improved attendance, with at-risk kids attending nearly two additional weeks of school. Each student managed to get around 50 loads of laundry done at school! This year, Whirlpool is set to expand the initiative to twenty more schools across five additional districts.
When considering factors like economic hardship, unemployment, and systemic inequality, laundry might seem trivial in the battle to keep kids engaged in school. But for a child who already faces significant hurdles, not having clean clothes can be the tipping point for whether they feel comfortable showing up to class.
Enter Dr. Emily Carter, the former principal of Maple Ridge Elementary in St. Louis. In conversations with parents, she discovered that many struggled to afford laundry services or find the time to visit laundromats regularly. She approached Whirlpool, who conducted their own research and found that a staggering one in five students in the U.S. faces challenges in finding clean clothing for school. One. In. Five. Can you believe it?
In a chat with Today Parents, eighth-grade teacher Jenna Thompson from Fairfield recounted how one of her students had withdrawn from school entirely. “After we started the program, he was more excited to come, and he became actively engaged in class. He no longer felt like an outsider,” she shared.
It’s too easy to label kids with attendance problems as “troubled” or “lazy.” Many well-off adults may not comprehend the struggle of something as basic as laundry, or they fail to empathize with the kids’ situations. Parents focusing on keeping their families fed and safe sometimes have to let less critical tasks, like a two-hour laundromat visit, fall by the wayside.
Kudos to Dr. Carter and Whirlpool for asking the right questions and implementing a solution that empowers these kids with the confidence they need to attend school.
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In summary, Whirlpool’s innovative Care Counts Program is making waves in school attendance by addressing a basic yet crucial need—clean clothes. By providing laundry facilities directly in schools, they’ve helped boost attendance rates among students who otherwise might not have shown up.