If there is one group of people that is enthusiastic about the start of the school year, it鈥檚 91制片厂 pre-K teachers. Hundreds of teachers carpooled to the Athletics Complex for a baseball-themed 鈥淗ello Pre-K鈥 drive-thru event Friday to gear up for the first day of school.
The early childhood learning department hosted the drive-thru experience to prepare teachers to hit the field on Aug. 16, the first day of school.
Staff handed out t-shirts and scholastic bags filled with bilingual board books along with planners, pre-K guidelines and other curriculum materials. Teachers even received classroom resources such as magnetic ten-frames, counting cones and a 鈥淣uts About Counting鈥 set. And it wouldn鈥檛 be a pre-K party without refreshments, so drinks and snacks were provided at the last station while pop music blared through the speakers.
鈥淢oments like these always give us an extra dose of motivation before we jump back into teaching,鈥 said Robyn Contreras, a pre-K teacher at Remynse Elementary. 鈥淚t鈥檚 encouraging to know we have a whole department that cares so much about our success at teaching and the students鈥 success in learning.鈥
Contreras and many other eager instructors happily drove through the line basking in the love and appreciation shown by staff.
鈥淲e wanted this event to be a big 鈥榯hank you鈥 to our exceptional teachers,鈥 said Melindaaprell Johnson, clerk for the early childhood learning department. 鈥淭hey go above and beyond for the students every single day of the school year, and they deserve to be appreciated year-round.鈥
Johnson鈥檚 co-workers agreed as they each spoke about their anticipation to engage with teachers and create a supportive network on every pre-K campus.
鈥淲e know kids at this age need face-to-face interactions to help them develop, and we鈥檙e so excited to have them back,鈥 said instructional specialist Ken Foster. 鈥淚t鈥檒l probably take a little adjusting to, but we鈥檙e ready to visit campuses and support staff in person.鈥
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first pre-K teacher drive-thru event was held in August 2020 at McNutt Elementary. Because of the overwhelming positive response to last year鈥檚 experience, district staff knew they had to do it again and make it bigger and better.
They did not disappoint.
If you want your child to learn from pre-K teachers that have a heart for early childhood development and passion for learning, register for pre-K today at aisd.net/prek. Always remember 鈥 big dreamers start small!