“Our educators deserve every bit of encouragement, support and love that they can,” said Tami Carter, Streamline Initiative Director/CarePortal Ambassador for the Nehemiah Foundation. “Teacher Appreciation Week comes around every year, and we want to have a part in blessing our educators and doing whatever we can to help them feel encouraged and supported and loved.”
The foundation started the Streamline Initiative, which helps schools access resources through churches, as a way to help streamline all the supports and organizations that want to provide resources for students. One tool to help do this is through the CarePortal, a nonprofit online platform that connects churches to help fill requests from local schools and other agencies.
“It is our vision here at Nehemiah that every public school is loving and effectively supported by churches in local neighborhoods and every student through loving and caring relationships,” Carter said.
The Springfield district, working with the CarePortal the last two years, asked the foundation and churches if they wanted to show love and appreciation to teachers this week. The churches have provided goodie bags, breakfasts, snacks and a variety of meaningful acts.
“The local churches are rising to the occasion,” said Pamela Shay, Springfield’s director of federal programs and who oversees the Family Outreach Office. “The outpouring of generosity from the churches is endearing to all who have received it, and it demonstrates how much of an effect it has when community organizations and schools work together.”
Carter said a lot of local churches already have a “heart and passion” for the schools in their neighborhoods, so she contacted several of them and reminded them that this week was coming up and if there was anything they could do to bless the schools.
“It’s wonderful to see churches embrace these opportunities. They have the heart and the passion, but lack the inroads and ideas. I love being able to present opportunities that they might not have thought of, and it delights me when they engage,” Carter said.
Church members can do anything from praying and writing notes to delivering any kind of snacks, coffee and donuts, or giving gifts such as keychains, Post-it Notes or teacher supplies. The Nehemiah Foundation will also write various personalized thank you notes for some of the teachers at the schools as well.
This year, Fulton Elementary School partnered with Covenant United Methodist Church, whose members brought lunch to the teachers on Monday, and My Church, which will bring lunch on Friday.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
The staff also received chair massages and an ice cream bar on Wednesday; students on Thursday will wash staff cars for those who won a raffle, and there will be a teacher celebration walk around the building on Friday. Students will give teachers “I love my teacher because...” books and food.
“Teachers work hard so much through the course of the year, and it’s nice to be able to shower them every day. We try to do things throughout the year to show appreciation,” said principal Deborah Howard. “It’s just hard to put into words the amount of work they put in to service our kids.”
Howard added it’s nice for the community and parents to show appreciation to teachers, whether that be thank you cards, treats, volunteering to read to or spending time with the kids. If interested in volunteering, contact Howard at the school.
Hillside Avenue Church of God, also known as Restoration at Hillside, partnered with both Schaefer Middle and Warder Park Elementary. They made goodie bags for about 50 teachers that include bottled coffee, assorted snacks and an encouraging note.
“We really appreciate everything that our teachers do, and we’re very thankful they have the willingness to allow us to come into their doors and bless them,” said Bethany Birckhead, family pastor. “We love getting to go there and give them a little bit of appreciation because we know that they work hard.”
If a church would like to participate in future teacher appreciations next year or in the CarePortal, contact Carter at tami@nehemiahfoundation.org.
Support for teachers this week comes at a time when fewer people have entered the profession, magnified by problems presented during and post COVID-19.
“At Nehemiah we see ourselves as the conveners to bring the faith of the community together around common concerns in our community, and loving on our educators is right at the top of that list. We want them to feel supported and appreciated for their incredible sacrificial efforts to bless our kids,” Carter said.
The following churches and schools have partnered to show appreciation for those teachers throughout the week:
Fulton Elementary — Concord United Methodist Church and My Church
Hayward Middle — DreamCity Church
Horace Mann Elementary — A woman on her own who loves to sew, and who is sewing blessing kits for each of the 50 staff members.
Kenwood Elementary — High Street Church of the Nazarene and The Nehemiah Foundation
Lagonda and Roosevelt Elementary — Fellowship Church
Lincoln Elementary — Clifton Avenue Church of God
Schaefer Middle and Warder Park Elementary — Hillside Avenue Church of God, also known as Restoration at Hillside
Simon Kenton — Champion City Church
Snowhill Elementary — Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
Snyder Park Elementary — Grace United Methodist Church
Springfield High — Grace Evangelical Lutheran and RiverSong Church
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