Theme days at school can be lots of fun, but they can also be a bit of a minefield for kids who don’t have the resources to come up with a crazy hairstyle or specific outfit.
My go-to was to just pretend I was too cool — I really wasn’t — to bother taking part, but I always appreciated the kids who were willing to try their best to take part anyway.
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It may not seem like a big risk to DIY a t-shirt for a theme, but admit it, we all know kids can be awful.
That’s what happened to a boy in Florida who really wanted to wear a University of Tennessee shirt for his school’s college colors day, but didn’t have an official one.
His teacher shared it on Facebook after she found him crying in the classroom. Some girls had made fun of him for his homemade shirt.
His story reached people at UT and in a grand show of support, they announced that they were creating official tees with his design on them.
In addition, a portion of each sale would be donated to an anti-bullying organization in the boy’s honor. When pre-orders opened, the site crashed from the sheer amount of people wanting to get one.
Though the reactions were mostly positive, some people wondered if UT would also give some of the proceeds to the boy.
Many pointed out that he should get some profit from his design or have a portion set aside for a college fund.
UT was listening and they just announced that the boy will be gifted a full scholarship to the school.
In their statement they said that he would automatically receive an honorary place in the Class of 2032.
However, should he choose to apply for UT for 2028 and pass admission requirements, his full tuition and fees will be covered for the four years.
In addition, 100% of the t-shirt profits are now being donated.
So far, more than 50,000 t-shirts have been pre-ordered and all of the money will go directly to Stomp Out Bullying . The scholarship will be provided by the school itself, not sales of the shirt.
