Some teenagers can be a lot more thoughtful than we give them credit for.
Three Callisburg High School students in Texas saw something in the halls of their school that rubbed them the wrong way. Mr. James, a 80-year-old janitor at the school, recently returned to the workforce. That’s because his rent went up $400 a month, which was more than he could afford.
Mr. James was forced to keep working in a tough post-pandemic economy. When students Greyson Thurman, Banner Tidwell, and Marti Yousko heard the reason why he’d come back to work, they decided to do something to help the elderly man.
“It’s just so sad seeing an 80-year-old man having to do things an 80-year-old shouldn’t have to do.” Banner, a senior at the school, said.
Greyson made a quick TikTok of Mr. James working in the school hallways with a call to action: “Let’s help Mr. James Out!” This student also started a GoFundMe with the title “Getting Mr. James out of this school.”
@grey.thurman Go fund me is in the bio! My classmates and I hate seeing Mr. James here, no one his age should have to be cleaning our messes up to continue to live. #fyp#school#gofundme#fy#mrjames ♬ snowfall – Øneheart & reidenshi
The initial goal of these student was just $10,000, enough to help Mr. James with his rent for a couple of years. However, everything was beyond their plan. The video went viral with almost 40,000 views, and the entire school community rallied to help Mr. James.
“I have 2,000 followers, and that was enough to get the word out,” Greyson said.
The inital goal of $10,000 came true in the first 12 hours online, and it kept soaring with each passing day. Now they’ve raised well over $250,000 to help Mr. James!
“When we told him, he was kind of like, ‘dang, that’s alright!’” said Marti, who was the first to suggest the GoFundMe effort for the janitor.
“Nobody deserves to work their whole life,” Greyson agreed. “They deserve to enjoy everything.”
Mr. James has not put in his notice, and he doesn’t want any fanfare or public attention, but he expresses his gratitude to the students for noticing his needs and lending a hand. Jason Hooper, school principal, is also incredibly proud of his students.
“Its just amazing,” he said, “You know of the need that was met because of three kind kids, but of all of our students who have pitched in to help that need.”
