By Kadey Heidrich
Pasadena ISD Communications
Sasha Runnels, an art teacher at Thomas Hancock Elementary, noticed a problem.
In order to comply with new COVID-related safety guidelines and prevent the potential spread of germs, students at Hancock Elementary had to carry their art supplies to and from her class- not an easy task for a five-year-old.
“I normally keep art supplies in my classroom for students to share,” said Runnels. “Now they have to carry their supplies to my class. For elementary school students, the supplies can be difficult to carry.”
After eyeing two boxes of misprinted t-shirts she had been given earlier this year by her principal, Runnels had an idea. She decided to make her students backpacks from the t-shirts, so they could easily carry their supplies to her classroom.
“I used to make these backpacks for my sons out of their old t-shirts,” said Runnels. “I knew I had all the supplies to make the backpacks for my students. The only thing that it would cost me was my time.”
When Runnels presented her students with the t-shirt backpacks, they were an instant hit, with some children expressing interest in learning how to make the bags themselves. Students are now able to keep all of their art supplies in the backpacks and carry them throughout the school.
Runnels hopes to share the instructions for how to make the t-shirt backpacks with other art teachers throughout the district.
“We want to do everything that we can to prevent them from getting sick,” she says.