![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
Dress for Less
LISD Clothes Closet Helps Students in Need
More stories from Ty Cathey
Standing among the clothing racks, the Leander ISD PTA Clothes Closet staff poses for a picture on Oct. 14. Judy Buckner, an experienced community service member who has been helping the Clothes Closet for the past 15 years, said she likes helping students in need. “People do all these things that help people far, far away and that’s great, everyone needs help, but people don’t realize what the need is right here in the community,” Buckner said. “You don’t have to spend all the money on postage to help people, you’ve got people in your own neighborhood who need help.”
In a portable nestled between the LEO center and Leander Middle School, there is a clothes closet.
Originally starting in an LISD Elementary school in the 1980s, the Leander ISD PTA Clothes Closet has provided thousands of outfits to students in need. Judy Buckner, an experienced community service member, who has been helping the Clothes Closet for the past 15 years, said she likes helping students in need.
“This is a really good way to help people,” Buckner said. “Even though parents are making decent salaries, sometimes it’s hard getting all the different brands kids like.”
The Clothes Closet isn’t just open to students of low income backgrounds, but rather to all students of all economic backgrounds. The Clothes Closet marks clothing and will remove items of clothing depending on what year it arrived to the facility, to ensure students are getting newer clothes.
“We get so many nice brand name clothes in here and we only keep the best of the best,” Buckner said. “We just want to fill in the gaps and help kids, as well as help people who need those volunteer hours.”
There are two locations in the LISD boundaries, the main one on West Drive in Leander and the South location at Four Points Middle School, which opened in October. Hours vary, but the closet is open two to three days a week and anyone living in the LISD boundaries can shop for free.
“People do all these things that help people far, far away and that’s great, everyone needs help, but people don’t realize what the need is right here in the community,” Buckner said. “You don’t have to spend all the money on postage to help people, you’ve got people in your own neighborhood who need help.”
Each student may receive 10 outfits per semester, two pairs of shoes, socks and underwear and four pieces of outwear. If a student doesn’t get anything in the first semester of a school year, they may collect for both the first and second semester in the second semester.
“We normally stick to the amounts because of the number of students that need help or could use help, but if we can tell a student needs more than we’ll give it to them,” Buckner said.
Making sure students have clothes is a big priority, but the community volunteer leaders of the Clothes Closet also work closely and personally with parents or students to make sure the student finds clothing they like. The Clothes Closet attempts to get the newer brand clothing whenever possible, but as a mostly donation driven organization, it’s not always easy. In addition, when the Clothes Closet takes older items or items they can’t use off the shelves, they donate them to places like Savers or will give them to be recycled, making sure the clothes find a use.
“I think the biggest challenge is making sure we have the [clothes] that high schoolers really like, like the Nike stuff, the Adidas stuff, Star Wars, college stuff and even gaming stuff,” Buckner said. “Gaming [clothes] are kind of iffy, because if they’re showing the weapons and stuff, were technically not supposed to have those because of the guns and violence.”
The Clothes Closet doesn’t carry pajamas or baby clothes, however, it does have clothes for anyone Pre-K through 12th grade. Sometimes, if a family is in serious need, such as a house burnt down, the Clothes Closet will provide clothes for the entire family and help them in other situations of need.
“We’ll take anything you give us and if we can use it, we will, but we want kids to be happy with what they get,” Buckner said. “We’d like people to realize that we go from 3T all the way up to 3X, and we can really use those name brand shoes and those warm-up pants, or joggers, you know, the things that kids really like to wear.”
Both student and parent volunteers are always needed for the Clothes Closet. Students who may want to volunteer and get community service hours for school clubs and organizations should go through the Leander ISD Ez volunteer website.
“I think everybody that volunteers here is very dedicated to helping people, and, in spite of our hours that we’re open, we tend to work a whole lot more than that,” Buckner said. “I think last summer, I was here four days a week for around four hours each day, sometimes even six hours in a day.”
Anyone interested in donating can drop off items in a blue bin located outside the main Clothes Closet building at 324 S. West Drive. The next big event where help is needed is the Thrift Teen Night event on Nov. 13 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
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Ty Cathey is a junior and this is his first year on staff. He works at Home Depot, loves to spend his free time playing video games and collecting coins and bullion. He likes to write about individual people with interesting stories and cheesy dad jokes for the Toilet Times. Ty also enjoys playing with his dog Bandit, who is a Golden Labrador Retriever. Ty plans on attending Austin Community College for two years after he graduates.
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901-600x400.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6-600x400.png)
