Every year the Osceola County School District hosts special events for teachers and staff during teacher appreciation week in May.

But this year required schools to get a bit more creative amid the social distancing orders.

Last week, OCSA’s administration team and office staff honored our phenomenal OCSA teachers with a “Teacher Appreciation Drive Thru BBQ”.

Teachers drove through the car loop area, receiving gifts from different stations. Gifts ranged from a cooler to sweet treats for teachers with some great BBQ, goodie bags, Kona Ice, and other gestures of gratitude.

Ms.Taylor, a social studies teacher at OCSA, said “A big thank you to our administration team for not letting a quarantine get in the way of teacher appreciation week.”

Some students at OCSA also took the time to create appreciation videos for their teachers. Valeria Perez, a junior drama major at OCSA, created a video for Ms.Taylor that featured a few of current students and alumni. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PZy-4_tAgc&t=254s)

“I was not prepared to see so many beautiful faces, said Taylor. “I truly feel appreciated this year, even being so far away from you all.”

It seems even more important this year to demonstrate how much our school supports and values its teachers. Behind closed doors, everyone felt that their work was normal and necessary. However, amidst the pandemic, many are starting to realize that teachers might have been a bit undervalued all this time.

Millions of educators have risen above what they were trained to do, like throwing themselves into online teaching with little to no preparation. Now that video chat meetings and parent portals replace the classroom, our students miss their teachers. OCSA is grateful and impressed by how many of our teachers are innovating and finding new approaches to keep students learning. Our teachers at OCSA have shined like the heroes they are, given these unusual circumstances they have faced and overcome. We appreciate them more than ever.