Sumner County middle schoolers collect supplies for foster care families

SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Middle school students in Sumner County recently gave back to foster families in need.

Sixth graders at Liberty Creek Middle School spent most of September gathering supplies for the Foster Families Assistance Network (FFAN), a nonprofit in Hendersonville. More than 400 items were ultimately collected by students, all to aid foster families in the county. 

“I didn’t expect that much, I’ll be honest. I am completely blown away,” said Anthony Poteet, who runs FFAN and is a foster dad himself. 

“It just showed me that, ‘Hey we can back up to younger children and present it in a way that isn’t giving them too much to handle, too many details, anything like that, but enough to know that they can make a difference,'” Poteet added, preaching the importance of awareness. 

The teacher at Liberty Creek Middle who organized this effort, Kelly Roach, is Poteet’s neighbor and friend. Realizing the value of what he does, she decided to make foster care her project-based learning (PBL) to start the school year. 

“They did not really understand how foster care worked,” Roach explained about her sixth grade class, which contains more than 200 students in total. “They did not understand how this store could help families and how kids are just uprooted out of their houses or their schools and they have nothing.”

According to Roach, her students quickly bought into the project after Poteet came by their class and spoke with them. Impressed with their efforts, she intends to do similar tasks with her students going forward. 

“Just putting focus more on community service, we will be doing way more things,” Roach said. “There’s just power in making a difference, and with kids coming in, it’s just even more beneficial than just adults doing it.”

“If you can get more people into social causes at a younger age, you’re going to make a bigger impact across the board,” Poteet added.