Jeremy Silva and ASD “Sole Searching” program put new shoes on students’ feet and smiles on students’ faces

ALAMOSA — In the past six months or so, Jeremy Silva, Transportation Coordinator for the Alamosa School District, noticed something about some of the students who got on and off the school buses every day. 

It wasn’t their backpacks.

He’d already addressed that issue at the beginning of the year when, thanks to tremendous support from various groups and individuals, he was able to make certain that a total of 60 students who needed new backpacks got one along with brand new pens, pencils, notebooks—everything each student needed off their school supplies list for the year.

And it wasn’t a concern that the students were hungry.  Silva and other devoted staff members with the school district had managed to obtain enough funding through grants and donations from individuals, local and state organizations to provide 200,000 meals to kids from March, when the pandemic hit, to August, when school started back up.

No, what Silva noticed this time was shoes.  Shoes with soles that were worn out and splitting.  Shoes where toes were sticking out of the tops.  Shoes worn by students that, he figured, had probably been wearing them for years.

Jeremy Silva is the kind of person that, once he sees a need, it sticks with him – even keeping him awake at night sometimes – until he finds a way to do something to meet the need that he’s seen. And he just couldn’t get the sight of those shoes out of his mind.

“Some of our students come from families that are the poorest of the poor,” he says.  “I see…I understand that this is a huge need in our community. A pair of new shoes is something that everyone can appreciate but not everyone is fortunate enough to have.”

Silva started doing some research and soon found what he was looking for. There are studies that suggest a student getting new shoes can increase their activity level, improve self-esteem, improve attendance, help to prevent bullying and increase health and overall wellness.

And, as he discovered, other communities have conducted shoe drives for their students, often with great success.  But Silva didn’t want to do a shoe drive.  He didn’t want to go some big box store and buy a boatload of shoes that all looked the same for kids who needed a pair only for those kids to know that all the other kids knew where their new shoes came from.

As he said, he sees.  He understands.  And he envisioned an entirely different experience.

SOLE SEARCHING is an Alamosa School District program that, thanks to donations and grants, provides any student from kindergarten through twelfth grade who needs it with a new pair of shoes.  The name of that student can come from a variety of sources.   Principals, coaches, teachers, counselors, MTSS (Multi-tiered System Support) coordinators, dietary staff, nurses, bus drivers, anyone who notices a student who appears to need a new pair of shoes can contact Jeremy Silva and get the process going.

Once Silva is given the student’s name, the parents are contacted “so they don’t wonder why their child is suddenly coming home with a brand new pair of shoes”. The student is then told to go on Amazon and, with a spending limit of $70, select whatever pair of shoes they want.  Once they make their selection, the order is sent to another site where, every Friday, Silva places the order.  Approximately one week later, Silva gets the shoes and takes them to the principal’s office who then typically contacts MTSS, or whichever staff member knows the student the best, who then meets with the student and gives them the shoes.

“Our goal is to be discreet,” Silva says.  “No one knows who bought the shoes, and no one will, unless the student chooses to tell other students himself.”

To date, 25 students have received new shoes. A few have been in high school and there have been some middle-school students, as well.  But the bulk of the purchases have been for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

“It’s interesting to see their personalities coming out in the shoes they buy,” Silva says with just a hint of a smile in his voice.  “And the kids really know their shoes, too.

They’ll buy Nikes, Asics, Skechers.

They really know what they want.

And they usually spend less than the amount they’re given. Most students spend about $50.”

Originally, Silva was determined to support the community and purchase shoes from local vendors, but the closure of a local retailer prevented that from happening.  He even tried going to the supplier in Pueblo, but they couldn’t work out a process.  That left Amazon as the last and, all things given, best choice.

Donations from several local groups have been instrumental in getting the project off the ground, including Alamosa Voice Facebook Group and La Puente Regift Grant Program, who identified Silva as a champion for schools and gave him grant funding, a portion of which will go to SOLE SEARCHING.

Silva is also initiating some fundraising efforts on his own, including teaming up with local videographer Rich Jaramillo to do a video to post on the GoFundMe page that Silva has created.

He hopes to raise enough funding to not only keep this project going throughout the school year but to also expand it to include athletic shoes for those student-athletes who want to participate in sports but don’t have the resources to buy the shoes they need.

He is also hoping that local offices, groups and non-profits will conduct sock drives because “of course, the new shoes should also come with a new pair of socks.”

As far as how students have reacted, Jeremy Silva can’t say for sure since the shoes are only given to the students by those people who know them well.  But he thinks he has a pretty good idea, nonetheless. “Starting off on the right foot and in a comfortable shoe of their own choosing is surely one way to put a smile on a student’s face.”

Anyone wishing to donate can go to https://gofundme.com/f/21jxh53jtc or send a check to Alamosa School District, 209 Victoria Street, Alamosa, Colorado 81101 (Memo: Sole Searching) or drop off an Amazon gift card at the district office.