When a N.J. principal needed laptops for students during coronavirus crisis, a TV star came to the rescue – NJ.com

The golden bows that represent hope for principal Charity Haygood were spaced six feet apart, neatly attached along the fence at Avon Avenue School in Newark.

Haygood was thinking about her students and their parents, and how she could have them safely pick up 125 Chromebooks last week, so they could be ready for the district’s online learning program on April 6.

Some families came. Most didn’t. You see, not everyone has a car in the city, and it’s hard to practice social distancing on a bus with the coronavirus lurking. Many of her students’ parents, Haygood said, were too frightened to walk to the school because they didn’t want to violate the city’s shelter-in-place order.

Haygood, a Newark resident, understands what her kids are up against if they don’t get online. Already out of school, they likely would fall further behind without the ability to learn digitally during the lockdown.

“Over 90 percent of children at my school do not have a laptop or internet access and the rest of the world is getting online,” Haygood said.

So, she hit the streets last week in her yellow Jeep to deliver the last batch of laptops to her 561 students in the K-8 school, making house calls with the help of teachers, substitutes, paraprofessionals and her husband.

They had already dropped off or had parents pick up 377 devices from the school’s computer lab when Mike Rowe, the star “Dirty Jobs” on Discovery Channel, heard about Haygood team’s effort — and that Haygood and the school didn’t have enough laptops for all of their students.

Using his new show, “Returning the Favor,” a reality web television series on Facebook Watch, Rowe figured Haygood could use a favor, too.

When she was duped into appearing on the show on March 28 — supposedly as part of an education roundtable to talk about the district’s online learning — Rowe sprang the surprise: the Chromebooks, valued at $25,000. The district, with the help of Altice USA, threw in 60 days of free internet access.

Her husband, Ryan, was in on the ruse. Producers had him recording her the whole time, so they would have video to include in the episode. Since it aired on March 30, the video has more than 4.7 million views.

Here’s how it went down:

When Haygood logged into the show using her cell phone, she could see someone sitting with their back to her.

“Hello?” she said.

“Is that a voice I hear behind me?” said Rowe, who spun around in his chair.

Haygood was stunned.

“Get out of here,” she said. “You’re the ‘Dirty Jobs’ guy.”

Rowe explained that his show was a huge fan of what she had been doing. When Rowe asked what she needed for her students, Haygood, unaware of Rowe’s new show, explained that she was short on Chromebooks.

“We think 125 Chromebooks from us to you would be the least we could do,” he said.

Haywood cried at the generosity, and when the show aired, she cried again. The gift will help the district eliminate “a digital divide in our city,” Superintendent Roger Leon said. In all, the district distributed 8,000 Chromebooks from the schools’ computer labs afterto schools shut down.

Rowe’s laptops arrived Wednesday at the school, where Jarheina Anderson picked up two of them for her children.

“I was shocked that she was going to come (to my house),” Anderson said. “I think she’s an awesome principal. She does everything she can for the kids.”

By Friday, 100 Chromebooks still needed to be delivered. Staff members gassed up their cars to help. Haygood finished around 9:30 p.m., but Ryan, her husband, made a special delivery at 11:30 p.m. to a family who couldn’t get to the school earlier that day because a grandmother had died from the coronavirus.

With the future uncertain, Haygood preaches hope. Those golden bows on the fence symbolize their abilities during this scary time in their lives. Together, they will get through this.

“You can do it,” Haygood tells them.

Yes. They. Can. With a principal like Haygood as the wind beneath their wings, how can they lose?

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Barry Carter may be reached at bcarter@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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