PACIFIC PALISADES—Teacher Appreciation Week has begun and on Tuesday May 5, Marquez Charter Elementary School held a celebration while adhering to social distancing rules. The Marquez Appreciation Parade, a parade for their teachers, produced a significant turnout and warm reunion. “We want to say thank you to you — kiddos, parents, and staff — for the hard work and perseverance throughout this distance learning experience”, the school expressed on social media to advertise the event.
At the curb, teachers waved to families as they drove by campus from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The crowd displayed colorful, handmade signs adorned with messages to greet their school and missed community.
For Marquez Charter, navigating the needs of distance education these past several weeks has been its own learning experience. Tracey Giller, a Fourth-grade teacher at Marquez, shared insight on how she and her class have been handling the situation. They recently participated in a virtual field trip to the Autry Museum, and visited campus to study their local plants. To them, this new digital set up is normal. It has already been a part of their everyday routine. However, the workload has multiplied according to Giller.
“I think as a teacher it’s definitely an increased workload because you’re creating new content constantly that’s different than what you might have done in the classroom, or you can’t teach it in the same way remotely,” Giller explained. “I’m trying to keep things as normal as possible for my students with the kind of content I assign and activities we do”, the Palisadian-Post reports.
