MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A big surprise for students with even bigger hearts.
You may remember Whitney Achievement Elementary School teachers getting national recognition after a photo of them walking kids home went viral.
Well Friday, with the help of the Tempur-Pedic mattress company, those teachers did even more for their kids, ensuring they will be getting good nights sleep so they can study hard.
Tempur-Pedic was planning on donating the mattresses to six teachers, but when they heard the teachers wanted the students to receive the gift, they donated 86 instead.
Eighty-six students will be sleeping a little easier, including Semora McGee who doesn’t have a comfy bed at home.
“It’s a bed that’s got the lines under it. It hurts my big sister’s back,” McGee said of her family’s current bed. “She can’t sleep on it. So, she has to sleep on the couch.”
Tempur-Pedic contacted Whitney Achievement Elementary after a picture of their teachers walking students home got national attention, even getting the school featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Teacher Carl Schneider was in that picture.
“My students and Frayser are seriously my heart,” he said, tearing up. “They are the most incredible, hilarious, tenacious young people that I have ever gotten to hang out with in my life.”
Although Schneider won’t be sleeping on one of these mattresses himself, he said, because he knows his kids are resting well, he will sleep more soundly than ever.
“I have a pretty decent queen mattress, and I know plenty of my students are sharing beds or sleeping on couches or making it work how they have to. So the chance to give them, not just a mattress, but a Tempur-Pedic mattress is awesome.”
And with those mattresses, Whitney hopes students will sleep better and be more focused in the classroom.
After all, studies show there is a correlation between a good nights sleep and academic success.