Donated washers, dryers help students in some Dallas schools

DALLAS -- Two teams of third-graders raced to separate the reds from the whites. They fished a pink sock out of a pile of T-shirts and removed 10 shirts from the dryer to fold them as fast as possible.

The Dallas Morning News reports the newest equipment donated to Roger Q. Mills Elementary in East Oak Cliff, Texas, doesn't help students learn to read better or complete a math problem faster.

It cleans their clothes.

And for some children, that could mean the difference between staying home or going to school, or feeling as if they belong or as if they're an outcast.

Marna Alisawi, 9, captained the red team at the competition, which celebrated the donation of a washer and dryer to the school from Conn's HomePlus.

Marna Alisawi, 9, left, and Austin Jeter, 8, run with laundry baskets during a laundry game at a celebration of Conn's HomePlus giving a washer and dryer to clean students' uniforms at Roger Q. Mills Elementary in Dallas on Oct. 20. The newest equipment donated to the school doesn't help students learn to read better or complete a math problem faster. It cleans their clothes. And for some kids, that could mean the difference between staying home or going to school. (Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Marna's team lost, but she congratulated the winners.

She said earlier this school year, a boy in her class ridiculed her friend, accusing her of wearing the same unwashed clothes every day.

Marna told him to leave her friend alone.

"Kids are perceptive. Whether or not they verbalize it, you can see it," said Tonya Clark, the school's principal. "Some kiddos, they sulk; some shy away from the opportunity to shine in the classroom."

The average family in East Oak Cliff doesn't own a washer or dryer, Clark said.

Marna Alisawi, 9, learns how to use a washing machine during a celebration of Conn's HomePlus giving a washer and dryer to clean students' uniforms at Roger Q. Mills Elementary in Dallas on Oct. 20. The newest equipment donated to the school doesn't help students learn to read better or complete a math problem faster. It cleans their clothes. And for some kids, that could mean the difference between staying home or going to school. (Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

The new equipment won't be for all children.

A student-support team will identify students in need of laundry assistance, and clothes will be washed on an "as-needed" basis.

The school has a uniform closet on hand so they can lend clean clothes to the student for the day, while they wash and return personal uniforms to the families within the week.

Clark said unclean clothes can contribute to absenteeism.

"We can't teach them if they're not here," she said.

Third-graders celebrate after winning a laundry game during a celebration of Conn's HomePlus giving a washer and dryer to clean students' uniforms at Roger Q. Mills Elementary in Dallas on Oct. 20. The newest equipment donated to the school doesn't help students learn to read better or complete a math problem faster. It cleans their clothes. And for some kids, that could mean the difference between staying home or going to school. (Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

The problem isn't specific to Mills Elementary.

A washer and dryer set is one of the three most requested items in Dallas ISD, according to the district's school-needs survey.

Tom Hayden, manager for Dallas ISD's volunteer and partnership services, said 50 of the district's 227 schools are asking for them, mostly in the elementary grades.

A few decades ago, Hayden sat in the same classroom where the laundry relay race occurred, wearing hand-me-down jeans that hadn't been washed for a week.

It used to be his homeroom when he attended the school.

"I know this still happens today," he said. "I know what these kids are facing."

He now lives in Plano, Texas, and thinks his neighbors would view laundry as something "so basic, it wouldn't even cross their mind."

But to him, "It's such a major but simple thing to have."

Last year, Whirlpool worked with a developmental psychologist to start and study a pilot program that provided about 2,000 loads of clean clothes to students across two school districts in St. Louis and Fairfield, California.

They found 90 percent of students improved their attendance, averaging 6.1 more days in school than the previous year, according to Whirlpool.