One photo captures the power of a teacher's support — and it's making the rounds.

Morgan Shoaff
01.14.16

The end of a school semester is like one big juggling act.

Between studying, final exams, and facing those research papers you've been putting off for a month, it can feel daunting to get through it all. And that doesn't even include what's happening in life outside the classroom.

Like ... finishing school and parenting at the same time!

When Monica Willard, an ROTC student and single mother of two, found out her kids' babysitter had to cancel right before she was supposed to take her final military history exam, she thought for sure she was dropping the ball on both her academics and her parenting.

Just trying to keep it all together. GIF via Channel Frederator.

After all, it's hard enough to get kids to be quiet at home, let alone when you're trying to focus on your academics in a public setting. But Willard knew she had no other choice. She took her 4- and 5-year-olds to school with her and hoped for the best.

Willard's professor, Dr. Daniel Krebs, was not only understanding of her situation, he offered to babysit her kids while she took her test.

By the end of the final exam, her kids were having a blast, as evidenced by this photo captured by a fellow classmate.

Krebs' nice gesture could have just saved Willard's focus – and her semester. But he doesn't want to take credit.

“A person like Monica, she’s a non-commissioned officer going to school, she’s a Mom of two kids. I mean that’s the kind of thing that’s really impressive,” Krebs told ABC News. “Me handling her kids for 40, 45 minutes, that’s not impressive.”

Regardless, it's an act of kindness that goes a long way, and it uncovers a bigger problem that many students face: the accessibility of child care in the United States.

Child care center costs are at an all-time high, ranging from around $3,500 to up to $19,000 a year, according to the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. In Indiana, a single parent with two kids pays 73% of their income to child care centers. That's not sustainable — that's ridiculous.

There are some colleges that are beginning to recognize the problem and offer on-campus child care solutions, though. Organizations like the American Association of University Women are pushing for more to follow suit.

Women, men, and families shouldn't have to choose between accessing child care and getting an education. While there's a lot of work to be done on that front, it's heartwarming to see heroes like Dr. Krebs demonstrate that the support of teachers extends far beyond the classroom.

We've all have had a compassionate teacher like Dr. Krebs. Let's celebrate them!

college good deeds teachers child care
Most Shared

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are making a serious push to expunge people's pot convictions

National Expungement Week is Spetember 21 to 28.

Courtesy of Houseplant.

In America, one dumb mistake can hang over your head forever.

Nearly 30% of the American adult population — about 70 million people — have at least one criminal conviction that can prevent them from being treated equally when it comes to everything from job and housing opportunities to child custody.

Twenty million of these Americans have felony convictions that can destroy their chances of making a comfortable living and prevents them from voting out the lawmakers who imprisoned them.

Many of these convictions are drug-related and stem from the War on Drugs that began in the U.S. '80s. This war has unfairly targeted the minority community, especially African-Americans.

Keep Reading Show less
marijuana expungement national expumgement week stoner comedies Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg High Times seth rogen even golldberg national expungement week
Culture

Breaking down the conspiracy theory mindset at the heart of climate change denial

Becker1999/Flickr

Climate change is happening because the earth is warming at an accelerated rate, a significant portion of that acceleration is due to human activity, and not taking measures to mitigate it will have disastrous consequences for life as we know it.

In other words: Earth is heating up, it's kinda our fault, and if we don't fix it, we're screwed.

This is the consensus of the vast majority of the world's scientists who study such things for a living. Case closed. End of story.

How do we know this to be true? Because pretty much every reputable scientific organization on the planet has examined and endorsed these conclusions. Thousands of climate studies have been done, and multiple peer-reviewed studies have been done on those studies, showing that somewhere between 84 and 97 percent of active climate science experts support these conclusions. In fact, the majority of those studies put the consensus well above 90%.

Keep Reading Show less
conspiracy theories climate change
Nature

After going viral for helping a 91-year-old, this humble plumber now exclusively serves the elderly and disabled

via James Anderson

Two years ago, a tweet featuring the invoice for a fixed boiler went viral because the customer, a 91-year-old woman with leukemia, received the services for free.

"No charge for this lady under any circumstances," the invoice read. "We will be available 24 hours to help her and keep her as comfortable as possible."

The repair was done by James Anderson, 52, a father-of-five from Burnley, England. "James is an absolute star, it was overwhelming to see that it cost nothing," the woman's daughter told CNN.

Keep Reading Show less
Heroes

A mother's viral plea for kids with life-or-death food allergies is one we all need to hear

HR Mom/Facebook

I live in a family with various food intolerances. Thankfully, none of them are super serious, but we are familiar with the challenges of finding alternatives to certain foods, constantly checking labels, and asking restaurants about their ingredients.

In our family, if someone accidentally eats something they shouldn't, it's mainly a bit of inconvenient discomfort. For those with truly life-threatening food allergies, the stakes are much higher.

I can't imagine the ongoing stress of deadly allergy, especially for parents trying to keep their little ones safe.

Keep Reading Show less
popular