Workers across Lenoir County had the opportunity to have a “casual Friday” by participating in JEANS (Joint Effort for the Advancement of New ideas in Schools) Day.
JEANS Day served as an effort by the The Lenoir County Education Foundation to raise money for teachers to receive mini-grants.
Local businesses and schools were able to pay $5 per person to wear jeans at work for the day.
Wil Hardy said he and his employees at Hardy insurance were glad to participate.
“The grant money goes to some really good situations,” he said. “A lot of times teachers pay for things out of their own pockets, so the mini-grants take some of that pressure away.”
Laura Lee Sylvester president of the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce said she was pleased with the local business who participated.
“We are excited to come up with a new, easy way to raise funds,” she said. “It’s a program where individually it’s very affordable because it’s only $5. When you put that together collectively we can raise a lot of money. It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a village coming together to come together to raise the money needed to fund the mini-grant program.”
Lenoir County Schools Public Information officer Patrick Holmes said the money means a great deal to the school system.
“The money raised comes to the schools as mini-grants for innovative teachers in our system,” he said. “Teachers in the past have put those funds to good use by acquiring supplies and learning tools that they couldn’t get otherwise.”
Holmes said all 17 schools and the central office participated in the program.