Of what value are clothes anyway?
\nCritics of formal fashion warn that wolves come in sheep\u2019s clothing and that only fools are duped by the Emperor\u2019s new clothes. On the other hand, formal dress code advocates see at least some superficial truth in the adage that clothes \u201cmake the man.\u201d Billionaire J.P. Morgan, for one, is said to have looked like a butcher in a Turkish bath, but with his three-piece suit, polished shoes and pocket watch he commanded respect.
\nWhile few would argue that the way we dress is unimportant, most agree that dressing down is a good idea whenever it comes to a good cause. That has been the credo of the Tyrone Area Education Association, which has gone casual over the past five years to raise over $18,000 for local charities and for individuals in need.
\nAccording to Dress Down Day organizer Laura Harris, \u201cDress Down Days encourage teachers and staff members to wear jeans twice a month in exchange for a two dollar donation to a predetermined charity.\u201d Beneficiaries of these days include the Tyrone\/Snyder Public Library, Tyrone food Bank, Tyrone Hospital Auxiliary and Care-Car Program, Tyrone Area Cooperative Ministries, Epworth Manor, Tyrone Arts Council and the American Cancer Society among others.
\nHarris stresses that dress down days are organized to help individuals in need \u2014 community members with loved ones recovering from serious accidents, house fires, or illnesses. She points also to future plans to expand beneficiaries throughout the county, state and nation to include causes like WFBG\u2019s Christmas Carol Foundation, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the Pennsylvania Humane Society, the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association.
\n\u201cThere are educational benefits to dressing down as well,\u201d said English teacher Steve Everhart. \u201cWhen people feel relaxed, they think more clearly and smile more readily. Both of these are intangibles that lead to more effective teaching. Fortune 500 companies as well as many local businesses latched on to this idea during the nineties. Take MeadWestvaco in nearby Alexandria, for example. There, ties are optional. Managers and supervisors wear jeans every Friday.\u201d
\nVeteran Chemistry teacher Dan Albright concurs, \u201cStudents relate more readily to more experienced teachers if they appear less intimidating \u2014 and suits and ties intimidate a lot of teens. Dress down days help to bridge that generational gap in a small way.\u201d
\nWhen itcomes to dress, it seems what\u2019s good for business is a good for education. It\u2019s not the vest but the heart behind it that counts. In case of the Tyrone Area Education Association, that heart is one that has given back to the community in measureable ways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Of what value are clothes anyway? Critics of formal fashion warn that wolves come in sheep\u2019s clothing and that only fools are duped by the Emperor\u2019s new clothes. On the other hand, formal dress code advocates see at least some superficial truth in the adage that clothes \u201cmake the man.\u201d Billionaire J.P. Morgan, for one, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47964\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}