PLATTSBURG, Mo. — I was in a Northland coffee shop when I spotted t-shirts for sale. It said "KC" and "Kindness is Cool." I loved it.
Then I saw the tag with a student’s picture and a story.
That took me to Plattsburg High School where I met some of the students making these t-shirts and hundreds of others for their fellow students.
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Eva Belcher, a senior walked me through part of the t-shirt process like using the heat press.
"And then when it beeps, you just pull it up," Belcher said, while taking a t-shirt with a design newly pressed on to set aside to cool.
Amanda Wilkinson, a special education teacher in the district, said the skills her students learn through making these shirts, like task completion and fine motor skills, are crucial.
"We work on them really hard throughout their high school years to get them ready to be independent and to hopefully have competitive employment after high school," Wilkinson said.
We watched while students Sean, Zander, Kayden, and Shae helped make more shirts, fold them, and attach tags.
They were helping make shirts for the marching band and student council.
"I like getting to make t-shirts because we get to make them for different people and different businesses," Belcher said.
Businesses like HullHouse Coffee in Kansas City North, started by the Hull family who’s son Charlie graduated from Plattsburg High School and was one of Wilkinson’s students.
The day we went to visit, one of the students, Kayden, was wearing a shirt the students had made.
Wilkinson talked about how nice it is to see the shirts worn around their community, too.
"It’s really special and it happens really frequently," she said.
Spreading school spirit and lessons beyond her classroom, through t-shirts.
"Everyone is special, and everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and I think that’s important for everyone to learn at an early age," Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson said any money they make from the shirts goes back into the classroom for things like field trips to the grocery store and more.
She also has middle school students who will help make them too.
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