It is a holiday tradition started by one teacher at Herriman Elementary School, now helping homeless children and teens throughout the year.
On this episode of the Supercast, find out how a pajama project is bringing comfort to people served by the Road Home Shelter on cold winter nights and beyond.
Audio Transcription
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a holiday tradition started by one teacher at Herriman Elementary School, now helping homeless children and teens throughout the year. On this episode of the Supercast, find out how a pajama project is bringing comfort to people served by the Road Home Shelter on cold winter nights and beyond.
We're at Herriman Elementary to talk about a service project, and here with us is Kelly Grundy. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about this project.
Kelly Grundy:
My name is Kelly Grundy and I teach here at Herriman Elementary. I teach fourth grade and they're pretty amazing. We have started a pajama project. Actually I started it years ago, but my fourth grade class is joining in with us and we're gonna get it going and they're super excited.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now when you say years ago, it was 14 years ago. Am I correct?
Kelly Grundy:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's a long time.
Kelly Grundy:
It's been a long time. I started, the idea came from teaching, actually. I'm a student from Bingham High School, and then when I started teaching, I taught in North Las Vegas. That was my first teaching job.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow.
Kelly Grundy:
And it was very different from where I came from. And a little bit of an eye opener. I taught a fifth grade class and when I was teaching there, my very first year, we were talking about traditions and I told them that we dress up alike at Christmas time and wear silly pajamas. And after the class discussion, I had a couple of students come up after, and they were in fifth grade and they said, Mrs. Grundy, what are pajamas? And I said, what do you mean? You know? And I didn't understand their question. They really didn't know what pajamas were because they'd been living in the shelter and it just wasn't something they were familiar with or needed in life.
And so that stuck with me and I ended up speaking with one of the counselors at the shelter and I told her about that experience because it was an odd moment for me. And she said, it's just not something they need. It's a want. It's not required for their life. You know, food and things come first. And that just broke me. And she also talked to me for a while about how symbolic pajamas are for kids in homeless shelters or in transient situations and how changing out of pajamas and putting on a new pair of clothes and doing that little routine at night really makes them feel like they have a home and makes them feel, you know, like they've got a different way of life. And that was really symbolic for them to change clothes at night. So once I heard that, I said, ‘okay, I'm in.’
So I've been collecting with my family, just here and there. My kids from the district, they'll tell their school teachers and we've been collecting for years. And when I would teach, we'd kind of do it here and there, or my community and stuff. So I've been doing it for 14 years, but last year when I started teaching fourth grade, I was telling my students about the project and I said, my family has been doing this for years. And they just lit up. They said, ‘we want help.’ So I thought, ‘oh, can they? Can I do that with kids?’ You know, are they gonna really do it? I mean, pajamas aren't cheap and I don't know if this is something they can do. The students here at Herriman and the community just went crazy. And they ended up collecting over 250 pairs, and we packaged them up, and each kid in the class wrote little tags on each individual pajamas saying, you know, we love you.
Anthony Godfrey:
So it was personalized.
Kelly Grundy:
It was awesome. And so I thought, okay, I'm doing this with my students now for the duration of my time because they really had a great time doing it. And they loved it. And they're so excited. We've already started collecting and they've already brought in bags and they walk around, they tell their cousins and family and they're just really passionate about spreading the news.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell me again, the first time that you did it with students.
Kelly Grundy:
First time I did it with my own students was last year here at Herriman.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. And you were pretty surprised by the reaction it sounds like.
Kelly Grundy:
Yeah. Absolutely. I didn't think it would be. It's harder than collecting, you know, little cans or something small. Pajamas seem like a big ask.
Anthony Godfrey:
You don't say, ‘oh, hey, I have a new set of pajamas that will be perfect for a child in this drawer right here. Let me go ahead and grab them’, in the same way we can maybe grab food out of the pantry. So you have to be pretty intentional about saying, I'm in. I'm gonna participate.
Kelly Grundy:
Yes. And so I thought, well, I'll invite them and they'll bring a couple. They'll participate a little bit. And so I, you know, sent messages out. The kids made their own fliers and they wrote up a little thing about it and they shared it with people. And I thought, well, I'll get a couple out of this. And this area just from Herriman Elementary collected 250 pair.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's amazing.
Kelly Grundy:
It was amazing.
Anthony Godfrey:
Do you have this year’s flier?
Kelly Grundy:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Let's take a look. Is this from students as well?
Kelly Grundy:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Very cool.
Kelly Grundy:
We kind of worked together. They came up with what they wanted to say and we added it all together on the flier.
Anthony Godfrey:
14th annual. That feels pretty cool, doesn’t it?
Kelly Grundy:
Yeah. Yes. It was exciting. One year when I returned back, a cute little boy walked down the hall, said ‘the pajama lady's here.’ Okay, I gotta do this.
Anthony Godfrey:
Hey, there are worse things to be known for.
Kelly Grundy:
Yeah. I was excited. I was excited that I had a purpose.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's pretty great. So do you get a pretty wide variety of pajamas coming your way?
Kelly Grundy:
Yes. And for that reason this year, the data that we've got from the shelter says that there's 180 children that they wanna collect for. But with that being said, they don't tell us the sizes exactly. They can break down the ages, but they don't necessarily know their size always. And what they want. So with that, we try to double it. We try to double what they need so that there's choices. And that they're able to maybe even get a couple if they can, but the ranges go from, you know, two to four, but a four year old might wear a size eight, I mean, you just don't know what they're actually gonna wear. And the teenagers wear adult sizes. It's all over the spectrum. So for that reason, we try to double it if we can. So they've got 180 children that they're gonna service this year. So we're aiming for approximately 400 if we can get there.
Anthony Godfrey:
And if someone listening wants to become a part of this and contribute, how do they do that?
Kelly Grundy:
So they can drop off pajamas to Herriman High School. They can email me, I can come get them. Herriman Elementary has a Facebook page that has our flier on there. Any of those ways, we'll get it anyway that we can.
Anthony Godfrey:
And do you find people without a connection to the school necessarily, pitching in?
Kelly Grundy:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Just random. The kids will take them to family members and, and somebody, I've had a couple people already who one of the children's parents put on Facebook and I had strangers emailing and calling and say, ‘I've heard about this and it sounds awesome.’ So they brought it over to us and dropped it off, and we don't even know where they heard about it. So we're, we were excited to have that.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's exciting. And it's encouraging to have that kind of support. Stay with us, when we come back hear a student talk about the pajama project and why she loves the tradition of giving back.
Break:
Hello, I'm Tracy Miller, President of the Jordan School District Board of Education. There are seven members on the Board of Education, one in each voting district. We are committed to listening and serving our constituents as we work together to provide the best possible learning environment for the students we serve. As members of the Jordan Board of Education, we believe it is our duty and responsibility to: increase student achievement; provide parents with the choices they deserve and desire; recognize and reward quality in educators; empower school leaders through policy governance and professional development; and communicate with the public, legislators, business leaders, cities, and parents. We invite you to get to know the Board member who represents you in your voting district, and to please join us at our monthly board meeting held on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Or listen from the comfort of your home, on our live stream. For more information and to find your Board member, visit jordandistrict.org. With parent and community input and support we will continue our work to give students every opportunity to succeed in Jordan District schools and beyond. Thank you for your support. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Anthony Godfrey:
We also have the principal of Herriman Elementary, Bobbie Nixon here. Bobbie, what, what impact does this have on your school?
Bobbie Nixon:
I think this is wonderful for our school because it helps our students give. And I think the earlier you can learn to give the better. We've had different projects over the years, but I think this project from Mrs. Grundy is helpful because it can help so many people in a way we hadn't considered before.
Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the reactions you've heard from parents and students who have heard about the project and gotten involved?
Bobbie Nixon:
I've heard from parents that they love giving pajamas. Pajamas are all over this time of year, and Ms. Grundy purposely does it at this time of the year. You can go into any store and they're on sale and they're Christmasy and it makes 'em feel warm and snugly at this time of year. I've heard that their students get excited about giving and about making the note. And like I said, it's known about pajamas. We have the flyers everywhere, like on our Facebook. It's also caught on like, not only to do the pajamas, but now our third grade is like catching up for Utah Humane Society. So it's catching on, like just to do service and good things.
Anthony Godfrey:
So there's momentum that you really can't fight. Once they get a taste for service, it expands into other areas. And you're right, the younger the better because it feels great. And, it's a great time of year to be doing it. And every time they put on their own pajamas, they're reminded of the opportunity that they've taken to provide that for someone else. And I think that's exciting. Part of education is getting outside of yourself and connecting to the broader world. And this is a great way to do that.
Kelly Grundy:
Yeah. And I've noticed within my class, just once we started talking about the project, made the flier and started talking, they in general have kind of created a more giving community within each other. I know we have a little thankful jar in our class. And once we start talking about this project, they fill out a little slip of paper with things they're thankful for and they put it in the jar. Once we started the project, the jar started filling up, they started being more thankful. They push in chairs for each other. They're just a little bit more thankful. We did another project that we got a gift card for our class to buy supplies and they all said, let's, let's buy pajamas. And they are not thinking of themselves anymore. They really have a different vocabulary and they have a different way of talking. And it's brought a little bit, a lot of unity within our classroom as well.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's remarkable. The unity as well, and that they're looking out for each other. Once they went into generosity mode, it just doesn't turn off. That's beautiful. That's awesome. I love that. Speaking of, we actually do have a student here with us. Introduce yourself.
Emily:
My name is Emily and I'm a fourth grader at Herriman Elementary.
Anthony Godfrey:
And Emily, what do you think about this project?
Emily:
I'm really excited for it.
Anthony Godfrey:
What do you like about the pajama project?
Emily:
I just like how we are helping the people at the Road Home Shelter just have pajamas and be more comfy.
Anthony Godfrey:
How do you think it feels to you and your classmates just to have that opportunity and to be focused on something outside of your school and outside of your classroom?
Emily:
I really like it because we've, like, as she said, we've grown more unity with each other.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's exciting. So, you can tell a difference in the way you're treating each other.
Emily:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
I see that you yourself are wearing pajamas today. And tell me about the pattern you've chosen there.
Emily:
It's Harry Potter.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. And is there a particular house or are they all represented?
Emily:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
They're all represented.
Kelly Grundy:
What house are you from?
Emily:
I'm in Gryffindor.
Anthony Godfrey:
Gryffindor? I kind of got a Gryffindor vibe as I walked into the office, but I wasn't sure. Okay. Sounds good. Of the donated pajamas coming in, what's the favorite that you've seen? Have you seen a cool pattern?
Emily:
Yeah, I saw a couple like of TV shows, like I'm pretty sure I saw my Little Pony one and also a Mario one, and I like the
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, nice. Some of the branded stuff. Okay.
Kelly Grundy:
I do know, when I asked my class, some of the things they're most excited about doing, they're excited about collecting them. But for those that are maybe not able to collect as many, they're excited to make little hand-made notes that have little drawings on them. They spend time drawing these little drawings and they say, ‘you are special’, or ‘we love you’. And then on the back we’ll put the size and things like that for the parents to go through and pick. And then we just wrap it up in string. But the kids get really excited to make those handwritten notes, and they get excited knowing that they don't know who they're going to. But it's gonna go to somebody we've talked about in class. It's gonna go to somebody who needs to hear that they were thought of and not just given it to, but they're gonna put as much of their own personality to each individual tag as they can. So they get really excited about making the tags and putting their own little touch and telling someone that they're special.
Anthony Godfrey:
I love how that personalizes it. It adds another layer to the connection that they feel. Did you do tags last year or is that new this year?
Kelly Grundy:
I did and that was the biggest surprise. Cause I collected pajamas before, pre Covid. We used to wrap them, like physically wrap them, but then since Covid they said maybe not. So we just do ribbon. And I thought, well I’ll just have the kids help tie the ribbon. We did some lessons, we had to teach them how to curl the ribbons. It was fun for the kids to practice, and they got a kick out of that. But then I thought, well, we'll have these tags, which I always have done tags with a size on it, but I had never put anything on the back. And so the kids actually had thought of it last year, and when they started it just snowballed. And that ended up being the biggest, most exciting thing for them is to individualize.
They weren't hurrying through each one. They really went through, and we ended up making 500 different individual tags to tie onto them. And they all put their little heart and soul into each tag and put a little message. And I was touched when I saw some of the things that they had written that I didn't tell them to write. But these little fourth graders had come up with their own little messages and just encouraging, just a little thought. And it was really touching that they were showing each other, and asking each other, and how do you spell this? And it was really from the heart and you could tell it. We really brought a spirit into our classroom last year. So we're excited to do that this year. For the same group of people.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, just like pajamas themselves. This pajama project kind of makes me feel warm all over that you get to create this opportunity for kids and this connection with the community. It's inspiring and it's really exciting. Thank you for providing that for the community and for your students.
Kelly Grundy:
You are welcome. I'm excited to do it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of The Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.