Perspective | More than clean clothes: The innovation of dignity in our schools

It started with one student.

She sat quietly in class, her hoodie pulled tightly over her head, sleeves hiding her hands, and eyes looking as if she was holding back tears. Her classmates exchanged glances and whispered quietly whenever she walked by. She stopped participating. I noticed the shift and, sensing something deeper, I chose to simply ask if she needed anything. After a few minutes of silence, she looked up at me and said softly, “Ms. Jones, I know I stink… but I don’t know what to do to fix it.”

That moment changed everything.

I began taking students’ clothes home to wash them in my own machine, one load at a time. For a year and a half, I quietly took students’ clothes home each day, washed them, mended any holes, and brought them back fresh and clean the next morning.

In the following months, I expanded the service schoolwide, ensuring more students could access what had started as a personal promise. More recently, with the help of community partners and small grants, I’ve been working on growing the Fresh Start initiative even further, continuing to dream bigger, reach more students, and build dignity into the fabric of our school.

When care becomes innovation

At its core, Fresh Start is simple: Students place their clothes in a laundry bag, receive a matching ticket, and return the next day to find their clean, folded clothing. But the impact is anything but simple. Students show up more confident. They speak up in class. They smile more. They’re no longer shrinking under the weight of embarrassment.

This initiative isn’t just about hygiene. It’s about restoring dignity, quietly and respectfully.

Too often when we talk about innovation in schools, we think about new technological tools, standards, and test scores. But some of the most powerful innovations don’t require a screen or software — they require listening, observing, and reimagining how we serve students’ whole selves.

Fresh Start has grown into something more than I imagined. It’s been sustained through staff collaboration, community partners, and individuals I have never met, who want to help make a difference in any way they can. Students know they can use it without shame or explanation. I’ve written grants to purchase additional machines. We’re even dreaming of a mobile laundry trailer to serve other schools across the district.

I believe we must redefine what counts as “innovation” in education. Yes, we need forward-thinking tools and curriculum design. But we also need systems that meet students where they are, especially when they’re carrying burdens no child should have to carry.

My students are brilliant, creative, and full of potential, but poverty doesn’t pause for instruction. We cannot expect students to rise academically when their basic needs go unmet. I didn’t set out to “innovate.” I simply loved my students enough to do what needed to be done. But when we take that kind of love and wrap a system around it? That’s when care becomes innovation.

Meeting families where they are

Fresh Start has also sparked conversations about how we engage with families. Parents have expressed gratitude, shared their stories, and even donated items. The initiative has created bridges where barriers used to be. It has also empowered other teachers in my district to consider how they can respond creatively to the needs in their own classrooms.

I’ve always believed schools are more than buildings where kids learn to read and write. They are places where we shape futures, foster self-worth, and create community. Fresh Start is just one way we can show students they matter, not just as learners, but as people.

We often ask students to show up ready to learn. It’s time we show up ready to meet them, exactly where they are.