Back to School: Superintendent collects T-shirts from districts around the state

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield has school spirit. She displays it proudly every week for T-shirts on Tuesdays, which started from her visits to districts around the state.

“People were so generous and kind to me and would say ‘here’s a T-shirt’ and they were so excited about repping their school,” Critchfield said. “Offhandedly I made a comment of you know were going to have all these T-shirts and I hate for them to only be shown here at the department and so we decided to showcase those.”

When showcased on the department’s social media accounts, the posts also highlight facts about the districts themselves. Each post is like a glimpse into what each represents in the state.

But now that she has a collection of Idaho’s finest school gear, Superintendent Critchfield is asked one question.

“What are we going to do with all of these T-shirts? We’ve got a couple of ideas. We want to frame some of them and use them as artwork around the department.”

Critchfield wants to get a little more creative and even involve the department.

“We want to make a quilt and we’re going to have enough T-shirts to make several quilts. Then we thought it would be fun to auction those off and put the money towards some education uses. We’re hoping people will be interested in that and I think who wouldn’t want to have a quilt that represents schools from all over the state.”

Until then, anyone interested can follow the districts on the Idaho Department of Education’s social media.

“It’s been fun, and I have an entirely new wardrobe of T-shirts from schools and charters around the state.”

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