“Needs Closet” is being made a reality by the T.A.F.E. Club at Carter school making sure everyone is provided with what they need.     

         T.A.F.E. stands for Texas Association of Future Educators. It is a club for students who wish to partake in any services for the school, and for those who are interested to become teachers or be part of the Education field. 

        The service project is a 4-cabinet closet available to place pads, tampons, razors, snacks, deodorants, shampoos, and conditioners. The T.A.F.E. members are doing this with the “hope” to be able to provide what some students may not have access to on their own at home. This project is not only for those who are missing these items at home but also for students who just didn’t get to eat breakfast or lunch. 

                            The question is: How did it even become an idea? 

T.A.F.E. Sponsor, Vanessa Brown said “I was on Pinterest wasting time one night and I saw this really cool project that an elementary had done. I thought we could modify it for our school. The idea rattled around for a while and I talked to Mrs. Gomez-Perez, our principal, about it and she thought it was a good idea.”

Like every project students do at school, they’re either for a grade, or extra points, but this project’s goal is neither of those. 

A junior T.A.F.E. member, Betsy Garcia, said. “Our goal is defined by our theme Take What You Need, Give What You Can. Not only are we, T.A.F.E. members, going to participate in donating items to this closet, but any other student that finds it in his or her heart, as well. We also want this to be a school-wide project. That being said, whoever wants to help out and donate items to the closet, know that we aren’t asking for family-size objects. Travel-size is more than enough, it goes a long way.” 

Like any other project, this one also requires teamwork.

          “The Closet is open at any time, preferably during lunch or passing period. Spread the word about the service project, make sure to tell your friends about it! Post it, share it, talk about it, make sure that everyone is involved in this service project.” she says with the hope that the people who read this take action.           

Other than that, opinions of Carter students and staff on this project seem to all be the same according to Sergio Cantu, a junior attending Carter, as he said: “That is totally tubular.” He explained how he thought it was a “great” idea.

                “I see great things being out of this project.” 

               Carter red wolves are proud of their new service project, but what does a community member have to say?

            “Creo y es algo que siempre se a necesitado y estoy muy feliz que alguien tomó cargo y lo hizo realidad.”

I think it is something that has always been needed and I am happy that someone took control and made it a reality,”  says a parent of a Carter student. She continued to say that she thought that other schools should do the same and practice integrity with one another. “I am sad that this is barely being implemented in school, but I’m glad it started at my daughter’s school.”

As her Mother turned 33, Susan’s mom was stuck celebrating this huge day at the hospital as she had her. Not usual for us Hispanics to celebrate birthdays there, we normally do a huge barbecue-party.. but then and there, that had to do. Her family carried her around like a trophy, noting that she had blue eyes, everyone wanted to see them for themselves. So much for blue eyes, her eyes ended up being green. Four years later, her parents decided they made a mistake having a girl, too complicated to deal with her, she supposes, knowing they couldn't go back in time, they decided to go ahead and have a baby boy. “My two siblings are and have always been my soul, I would do anything for them,” she says. Throughout her “kid days,'' she says, everyday seemed to pass by like a flash, a blur. Before she knew it, she was 5 years old attending Perez Elementary, wishing she could take Bunny God (She used to think God was a white life-size bunny with a big beard) to Show and Tell,  and prove to everyone he exists. Being five brought many revelations to her and her imagination, but especially, separated her from her best friend. Due to the lack of security in the neighborhood, she had to leave. The last memory she had of her engraved in her mind was her holding her mom’s hand while they walked to the office to sign her out. Susan being naive, she still came over to her house to ask for her but no good news. She even tried telling herself she was probably on a long trip, and she fell for it every time, so she kept asking everyday. “How couldn’t I? I sang all my made up songs with her, I did my first cartwheel with her, which at the time was only me crouching and moving my arms to another direction. I had to keep insisting...but… one day I just gave up.” She said. She made new friends, and she moved on. Little did she know that six years later, as she attended Ann Richards Middle School, she would come back. They picked it up where they left off, and they continued being best friends; she became her go-to person as Susan had conflicts.  As Susan entered high school though, she says she could feel all the pieces of advice that her best friend had ever given her about life, fall down on her as she experienced her own teenage moments. She didn’t warn Susan about it, maybe cause she couldn’t, they were going through the same. From being bullied, to heartbreaks, to any other little thing that affected Susan emotionally, she felt it all. Sophomore year, she says, was the year she made a decision. She went through such a mental-turmoil, she couldn’t focus. Until one day… she had to tell herself “They’re just bad days, and if bad exists, that means good does, too. You need to focus on your career path; becoming a teacher. Teach every student what you wish you knew when you were their age. Teach people that there is such thing as ‘teachers who care’ and that’ll be me. Ever since, the days that pass by have been pleasant. Something to hold onto as I continue this journey called Life, especially if I want to be an example to others.”

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