LUBBOCK, Texas — Teachers in the Hub City are celebrating Teacher’s Appreciation Week without the presence of their students.
Karen Litteral, a fifth grade science and social studies teacher at LISD, said that Teacher’s Appreciation Week doesn’t feel the same without face-to face contact with her students.
This year, she said she’s grateful for all the parents who have been able to help during the pandemic.
“I’m thankful for my parents that have stepped up and doing things that I would have never imagined a parent to do,” she said. “I’m thankful for my kids and their endurance and perseverance through this because it hasn’t been easy on them either.”
Cathey Ward, a kindergarten teacher at LISD, said the first week of Spring Break this year was hectic because her husband had emergency surgery, and the following week LISD and Texas government announced that school would no longer meet in person.
She said she misses seeing her students the most.
“I say, ‘How do you want to say hi today?’ and lots of them want to give hugs, lots of them want to give elbow bumps, high fives, handshakes or just a wave, and that’s something I really miss, is just the connections,” Ward said.
Stephen Puente, a seventh and eighth grade art teacher at LISD, said he’s sad that he won’t get to say goodbye to some of the 8th graders going on to high school.
He said the good thing about this pandemic is that art has allowed students to go outside of the classroom.
“One of the great things about art is it’s not limited to working by hand in the traditional sense, so if we don’t have access to pencil or paper, glue or scissors or those things, we do have access to what we have around us,” he said.
He said art has created a sense of normalcy for his students.
“My students have just enjoyed getting to just make art and to just do things they were used to doing before,” he said.