Chapel Hill high schoolers bond with younger students at annual Shoes for Kids

Published 5:45 am Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Nearly 50 Jackson Elementary students were bursting with excitement Tuesday morning as they stepped into Shoe Department at Broadway Square Mall in Tyler, accompanied by their Chapel Hill High School buddies for Chapel Hill ISD’s annual Shoes For Kids event.

“Seeing the older kids interacting with the little ones is very fun,” said Tracy Steele, student services coordinator for the high school. “It’s one of our favorite things that we do all year.”

The Student Council raised funds throughout November for enough money to provide shoes for students at Wise and Jackson Elementary schools and Kissam Intermediate School.

“We raised money so we can come out with our little schools… and buy these kids shoes and take them to eat,” said senior Chandler Lawson. “They have good, fun day.”

The event typically takes place the week after Thanksgiving and addresses the needs of many younger students in the Chapel Hill ISD who require new socks and shoes. Additionally, it fosters a sense of friendship between high school students and the younger ones.

“Each of those campuses gets to designate about 50 students that could benefit from new shoes,” Steele said. “And each of those campuses gets their own day where we match up with high school buddies and they get to come get new shoes.”

The initiative was started more than 20 years ago by Chapel Hill High School students who wanted to give back to the community and began raising money for students. It has since evolved into a full day trip to the shoe store, lunch at Cici’s Pizza, and an activity at iJump for the big kids and Discovery Science Place for the younger kids.

“The younger ones love the attention,” Steele said. “They love getting to have a buddy to care and pay attention to what they’re picking out… having a high school buddy, they think it’s awesome.”

The Student Council raised nearly $9,800 for each student to spend at least $40 on shoes, as well as socks. The funds also will support the fun activities for the week.

“We spend a lot of time and a lot of energy raising the money because we know there’s a purpose behind it,” said senior Kerra Moore-Eubanks. “I think it’s just so rewarding for us, maybe more than the kids, to just see how excited the kids are over something so simple, just like shoes. For us to be able to do something and give back, I love how our hard work has gotten us here and able to reward someone else.”

The trip connects around 24 high school students each day with 50 students each from three lower Chapel Hill ISD campuses.

“I love giving back to our younger communities,” Lawson said. “Seeing all the little kids getting excited about getting shoes, it’s awesome. I hope to see this keep going long after I graduate.”

“It’s very fun to see them all together,” Steele added. “They make special friendships and by the end of the day, it’s like saying bye to their best friends.”

When the initiative first started, Chapel Hill partnered with Payless Shoe Source; however, when it shut down in Tyler, Steele reached out to a few local shoe stores to see who would be able to participate.

“(Shoe Department) responded back and they were very eager,” Steele said. “They have been amazing. They always bring in extra people and they’re always ready for us. They measure the children’s feet when we first get here, write it down on their stickers… they’ve done an amazing job.”

The highlight of the day for many of the students was the time they spent bonding with one another.

“It’s when they’re finally getting really comfortable with us and they finally are just really excited to hang out with us, they’ve gotten their new shoes and they’re running around with them,” Moore-Eubanks said. “It’s just so exciting to watch them just come out of their shell and have so much fun with us.”