Because of the protests and violence in Ferguson, Missouri following the shooting of an unarmed teenager, the nearby school district has canceled classes for the week.

So yesterday morning, instead of being in the classroom, 150 area teachers took to the streets to clean up broken glass, litter and tear gas canisters. Some high school students were helping too, taking in the day’s events as a Civics lesson.

NPR reports that even though classes are canceled, the free and reduced lunches for poverty-stricken kids are not.

“We like to tell kids we’re a lifeline,” Tiffany Anderson, the Jennings School District superintendent told reporter Elise Hu. “And that’s really the message that we’re giving today. We’re a lifeline.”

(LISTEN to the story or READ it here, from NPR News)

Photo from the Jennings School District Facebook Page