Silverstein Hebrew Academy recently showed their love and gratitude for their teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week.
Though students could not physically be with their teachers, families celebrated their teachers both virtually and in-person abiding by socially distancing guidelines. The admiration for beloved teachers was shown through games, social media posts and even a caravan parade by parents.
“Our teachers have learned and mastered an entirely new way of teaching in such a short period of time,” said Shireen Butman, head of school at SHA. “They have worked tirelessly to keep a sense of normalcy for our students–doing drive-by birthdays, check-ins on students and their families, one-on-one zoom calls for special teacher time, extra support in the evenings and spending after school hours on preparing all supplies and materials for their students to pick-up, in early childhood, they go even further by personally delivering all materials to students’ homes. We are immensely grateful for them.”
One of the games the children and the SHA community have enjoyed playing is a “Guess Who” teacher edition. Teachers of Silverstein Hebrew Academy post a photo from their childhood on the school’s Facebook page and it’s up to the students to guess which teacher it is. In addition, they have honored all their teachers with a “Superhero Award” to show their appreciation for everything their educators have done in these difficult times.
At the end of the week, several students and their families visited their teachers in the form of a car caravan to spread some much-needed positivity and joy and to show their appreciation.
The teachers and staff were touched by the act of kindness and happily waved to their students from a safe distance. Some students even drove to Queens and Suffolk County to personally deliver flowers to their teachers.
Butman and her husband Serge Butman of Express Kafeh – Mobile Espresso Caterer, even treated the SHA staff to a delicious, socially distanced, coffee bar.
Teachers loved this opportunity to relax and to catch-up with colleagues, they hadn’t seen in nearly two months.
