A new resource is now available at Wando, and it is meant to lend a hand in the midst of hardship.
It was an absolute disaster of a room. Pipes sticking out of the ground, old paint on the walls, and a sense of rushed abandonment hanging over it all.
Parent educator Susan Antonelli saw all of this mess, but she only viewed it as an opportunity.
“What I realized is we had a need to have somewhere in this building where we kept toiletries, extra clothes, shoes, things… that students might need, but we didn’t really have them in any place,” Antonelli said.
Closets, countertops, and many coats of paint later, the room was transformed. A shining island and bright shelves house all manner of items, waiting for students to find and utilize them.
“A lot of times it might be an emergency situation, like we’ve had students just in the last year who’ve had house fires, or whose parents were in a really traumatic accident… things like this happen,” Antonelli said. “We’ll also have some students who maybe are experiencing… continuous financial hardship and need more support.”
Thanks to Antonelli, Wando students who need support can find it in the old school store, where the Warrior Wardrobe has found a place to call home.
“Now we have this place, and it’s available to any student who needs anything at any time. There’s… no charge. All they need to do is go to a trusted adult… and then they can kind of have a private shopping experience,” Antonelli said.
The newly formed Warrior Wardrobe began in the spring of 2024, but this fall it has grown immensely and has become much more of a full-blown operation, which will likely continue to grow in the coming years.
“I’m really, really thrilled about just the start we’ve gotten this year,” Antonelli said. “My hope is that if a student needs something, they know that it’s there. And… that’s an aspect I want to grow.”
Behind the scenes, the Wando Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO) has been working tirelessly to make this one-of-a-kind opportunity possible. Tasha Martens, the PTSO’s Community Enrichment Chair, has been knee-deep in volunteering, communication, and organization.
“It was a big task… so we wanted to… be able to come in and help… go through things, make sure we got everything needed that we want in there, and also… set up… donations that can come in,” Martens said.
The Warrior Wardrobe has made a connection with God’s Goods, a local non-profit thrift store. In this partnership, the two groups have formed a cyclical relationship of donations, volunteers, and more. In this way, the Warrior Wardrobe has become well-stocked with almost anything that could be needed.
“There’s… backpacks, there’s also… toiletries… coats are in there, sweatshirts are in there, pants are in there,” Martens said. “Everything’s in there that they would need, most of the… stuff’s all brand new, which is amazing.”
Wando counselor Ronnie Jacobs also recognizes the profound impact that the wardrobe could have on students.
“I think it helps to kind of bridge the gap between need and having that need met,” Jacobs said.
Despite this, Jacobs also understands the potential internal struggles faced by a student who needs financial support.
“Here… the amount of students who are in need aren’t the majority, and so I can see where a student may feel uncomfortable asking, or even being in a situation where they need things, because so many of their peers and their classmates may not have that exact same need,” Jacobs said.
Now, students experiencing financial hardship can quietly access the wardrobe to have some of their needs met.
“I think as a school, we’ve done a really good job at really trying to address issues of belongingness,” Jacobs said. “So I think as long as we continue to make that a priority, I think it could… decrease some of that… stigma about that need because we kind of feel like this is just one big family, and different family members need different things.”