Michigan Teacher Keeps a Snack Pantry in His Classroom. One Boy Motivated Him to Do It
Kids can't learn on a hungry stomach.
Mr. Shutes (@danshutes) shared on TikTok that he keeps extra food in his classroom. The fifth-grade teacher said he was inspired by a boy who was in his class six years ago.
“I watched one of my students walk over and take every single extra bagged lunch that we had, and I watched him stuff them in his own backpack,” Shutes said. The educator from Michigan approached his student and asked him why he was taking the extra bags.
“I’m taking these home so that my little brothers can eat dinner tonight,” the child allegedly told Shutes. As his teacher, Shutes said that he immediately “felt horrible.” Not all students come to class with full bellies. Another teacher on TikTok has even started running her own food pantry for students and families in need, acknowledging that some people do not have enough to go by. After the incident with his student, Shutes said he bought two boxes of granola bars in case his student needed more food.
“I went down to our school counselor, and I talked to him about it, and we put a process in place. So, if he needed something else on top of that, we had a form,” Shutes explained. Later on, their solution evolved into a small snack pantry in his classroom.
A teacher who wants to care for his students
“I am not the parent of my students,” Shutes responded to criticisms. He said that he was criticized for “going out of line,” emphasizing that the children are not his responsibility to feed. The teacher shot down these concerns, insisting that he wanted to care for his students.
“But if they’re gonna be in my classroom for seven hours a day, five days a week, for nine straight months, I’m gonna take care of my students like they’re my own,” Shutes argued. There are parents who can stretch $15 to feed their family of five dinner, but not all can. Moreover, the teacher also claimed that he isn’t alone in his endeavor. He believes that there are plenty of other educators who also stock snacks for their students.
“You’d be shocked at how many other teachers do this exact same thing. They either have a snack cupboard or a snack drawer because they know what I know. A hungry student isn’t going to learn at a high level,” Shutes said. The teacher added that as long as his students walk through his door, he will take care of them to the best of his ability.
Social media urged the teacher to start an Amazon Wish List
The video has gone viral, with some social media users expressing sympathy for Shutes’ cause. One commenter advised him, “Start an Amazon list.” Others commended Shutes, calling him a “good, caring, and decent human being.”
But others also started sharing their stories beneath Shutes’ video. A social media user who claimed to be a former lunch lady said, “I ALWAYS made sure my kids were taken care of, because sometimes it’s the only meal they get to eat. We used to have a backpack program. The kids would pick up a backpack on Friday and drop it off on Monday. It was filled with enough food to last the weekend.
A student who said they were helped by a teacher with a similar snack pantry also shared their experience. They claimed to be homeless during high school, but their English teacher kept a cupboard containing snacks and hygiene products. They wrote, “That was the only reason I had anything at all sometimes. I don’t know if he knew he was doing that much for me, but I’ll always remember and be grateful for him. Especially now that I’m an adult, in a stable life, and going to college for English.”
A little help goes a long way for students who have nothing. Some, like this homeless high schooler in California, even went on to graduate at the top of his class against all odds.
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