By Madison Remrey
This week, the week of May 2-6, is National Teacher Appreciation week. Local schools in Ruston and elsewhere will be celebrating and showering teachers with small gifts, snacks and more.
Teacher Appreciation Week is a time set aside to celebrate the professionals that dedicate their time and resources to investing in the future generations of our communities.
According to the National Education Association, this national week of celebration was proposed to Congress in 1953 by Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and began as a single day to recognize teachers and their hard work. Since 1985, the NEA has been celebrating what was once a single-day celebration as now a week-long celebration.
Over the past two years, schools have had to modify how they participate in this week due to COVID-19. This included doing this such as providing meals and having parents send individually wrapped items to teachers as gifts.
This year, there is more opportunity in how the community will get to show their appreciation to their teachers in a way that is more familiar. This may include things such as sending snacks, writing notes or even picking flowers.
Teacher Appreciation Week is important because of various reasons. Hillcrest Elementary’s coordinating teacher, Kelly Colvin, said that one of those reasons is because teachers go above and beyond for their students, even if it means doing more than just teaching.
“Especially these days – our teachers are being asked to be mom, dad, nurse, educator, or even therapist,” Colvin said. “They have to do so many different things, not just teach.”
This week, some schools may celebrate more than just the teachers.
“It’s really nice to be able to just treat the teachers and pay special honor to them and the whole faculty,” Colvin said. “We could not do this without our paraprofessionals, custodians or cafeteria workers. It just takes all of us.”
To help celebrate a teacher in your community, Colvin said that teachers love receiving items as simple as notes of encouragement or a flower picked from one’s front yard. Parents and students can also send to school gift baskets with items such as snacks, knick knacks or supplies from the classroom.
