Teacher appreciation week is from Monday, May 3 to Friday, May 7. Students have planned various ways to show their appreciation for teachers.
The 2020-2021 school year has proven the amount of dedication teachers have put in for their students. They have spent countless hours after school preparing lessons twice over and many more hours grading assignments due to the hybrid schedule this year.
The workload is never ending for teachers, and people want to recognize their efforts.
After a year of new challenges the students want to thank teachers and staff. Spartan Assembly is planning a special recognition each day of teacher appreciation week to show thanks.
Monday: every staff member is given a handwritten letter, joined with a treat, to let them know how appreciative everyone is for their hard work.
Tuesday: a video compilation of students’ words of thanks for the staff’s hard work is being shown for them.
Wednesday: a donut breakfast is served for the staff.
Thursday: the “Senior Scoops,” in which seniors serve ice cream for teachers during eighth period.
Friday: a food truck is coming for staff to enjoy in a final appreciation for their efforts in a most difficult year.
Senior Quique Riojas Berazaluce has been planning something of his own. In past years, he was able to put his efforts into planning assemblies honoring and recognizing events; this year, his way in honoring them took no less effort.
For several weeks, Riojas Berazaluce has been planning to present two giant cardstocks signed by students to the janitorial staff and the lunch ladies.
With every student taking an english class, he placed them within the english rooms for every student to sign throughout the day.
Teachers have had the utmost amount of patience this school year and continuously give students the benefit of the doubt, knowing it is a difficult year for everyone.
The overwhelming amount of work that teachers must do to keep their class up to speed does not stop them from doing more.
Countless teachers have doubled her work this year and had to undergo constant changes. The hybrid model had brought confusion; which lessons should be repeated in both groups? How should the online students be incorporated?
And switching to all in person brought upon a whole new set of questions and changes.
Janene Murphy, Intro to Business and Personal Finance teacher, makes many efforts to include her online students in the regular classroom. “It’s been a lot of teaching and learning; learning about different tools so I can get students on the other side of the screen engaged in what’s going on,” she said.
Throughout the challenges of planning new lessons and navigating google classroom, teachers are still putting students as their number one priority.
Stephanie Risius, Spanish 3 and AP Spanish teacher, understands the cruciality of students learning the criteria. “I know my kids are going to someone else’s class next year,” she explained. “Languages all build on each other. How do I get these kids in a spot where they will be successful in the future?”
Teachers continuously put the students first, understanding that students need to interact with each other and learn; students are the priority for teachers.
“These kids deserve an education,” Risius adds.
With all the hard work teachers have done for students, the students want to show their appreciation differently on each day of the week.
