Watch multiple videos from the day on the Cherokee Scout’s Facebook page.
Andrews – To celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, Andrews High School put a new “spin” on things with a mash-up of the popular TV games shows Survivor and Wheel of Fortune, with science teacher Christina O’Dell taking the top prize of several gift cards for her hallway “Toosie Dance” accruing the most points for the number of students dancing alongside her.
Principal Sheryl Rogers said the game “is a program from Class Team Building and while they spin a virtual wheel on a television screen, there is also a list of ‘fortunes’ or challenges that the teacher or staff member must then complete, much to the delight of both the staff and students because some of them are really funny like dancing down the halls doing viral Internet dance challenges.”
The list totaled 50 tasks to complete, No. 24 being contacting a member of the Cherokee Scout staff, have them attend and write an article. Each task is assigned a points metric and teachers also had chances to earn “extra bonus points” – the extra points are here, with the completion of this story for cafeteria manager Connie Whitaker, who reached out to the local newspaper.
Whitaker, when asked about her other tasks, drew another one for applauding her “best work friends” and picked her cohorts on the lunch line naming both Sally Matoy and Jessica Murray because they “always help and are very good at their jobs,” mentioning too that “Sally and I have been friends for the 15 years we’ve been here together.”
Rogers made videos and slide shows from each teacher and staff’s tasks and then shared those via Google to the entire school since some involved voting such as The Masked Singer, which was done anonymously and then shared so everyone could guess the identity of the singer. (Hint: It was history teacher Reagan Lindsay, who had to swear to secrecy distance learning advisor and mistress of wheel-spinning Amy Brown.)
While Brown oversaw the spinning and the picking of tasks she, too, tried to time peak performances and challenges for teachers’ free blocks and planning times.
“I’m the chaos coordinator today and every day this week, but it’s been so fun to see the teachers have fun and get involved and competitive for the points,” Brown said. “The students have thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Senior Abby Farner added, “It’s the only time we get to laugh at the teachers and not get into trouble for it. Plus, us kids will say anything to get these teachers to dance in the halls.”
Dancing was hardly the only list item, but was the most popular. Other challenges included in the game were:
- “Name some improvements for the school.”
- “Name a teacher who inspires you and leave an anonymous note for them.”
- “Name a teacher you admire and make a video describing your admiration to them.”
- “Decorate [different teacher’s] room with what their subject requires.”
Some of the tasks were simply to give the students sticky notes to write down one amazing thing about a teacher or staff member and put it on their door without getting caught.
Rogers said some of the note-writing and video tasks were her favorite because they got “our teachers speaking kindly to each other and focusing on what they’re doing well throughout this year. And everyone needs that.”
Rogers also reflected on her first full year as principal at Andrews High. “It has been a wonderful year,” she said.
“We want our teachers and staff to know they’re appreciated every day, and hopefully we’ve made that clear, but this time we just wanted to go a bit above and beyond for Appreciation Week.”
That above and beyond included meals for each day of the week starting Monday with Mayor James Reid, who is also an employee at the school, giving donated breakfasts of sausage biscuits from the local Hardee’s. Tuesday’s treat was an afternoon tea because the teachers are “Tea-riffic” with Rogers hand-making chicken and egg salad along with ham, Swiss and fig preserve sandwiches as well as “the cucumber ones which were definitely the most popular.”
Wednesday through Friday saw lunches provided by Red Oak Church, which provided a baked chicken plate and has long provided lunches for all schools in Andrews at least three times a year, Rogers said.
Thursday was “Chick-fil-A” day – or “The Lord’s Chicken,” as it’s also popularly monikered around the South – while Friday saw pizza day taken to new heights with Papa’s Pizza rounding out the week.
Rogers went on to recount how “blessed we are that we have so many individuals and groups here that value both our entire staff and all of our students. We have the Lions Club, who volunteer at our gates for all of our games, both junior varsity and varsity. We have Andrews United Methodist Church, which does the Fifth Quarter for us. We have such tremendous support and that’s the benefit of being in a small town like this.”
While Rogers admits it’s been a shift adjusting to the small town atmosphere and sometimes regarding others’ presumptions about the quality of education in a rural region, she shared a post from a family with several grandchildren in the three Andrews schools, who praised all three schools for “their commitments to the education of these students and the dedication of each and every employee.”
Rogers applauded her own school’s level of dedication when recounting some of the tasks the staff really had fun and went over the top with during the week, including athletic director Frank Maennle’s dedication to jumping atop the table and dancing during counselor Taylor Hamby’s baked chicken lunch period. The video soon became one of the most popular on the school’s shared site.
Seems like those more athletically inclined had the most physical tasks to complete as Rogers also singled out football coach and physical education teacher James Phillips for his ingenious take on performing “The Floor is Lava.” Phillips sat on a revolving chair whilst picking his feet well above “lava stage” and was pushed by a student, all of which Rogers marveled at, saying in her video description for the group “I would’ve been trying to jump from thing to thing like a ninja. Good thing Coach has more brains than me.”
Brains weren’t reserved for those clever teachers alone, though since two senior students gathered all of the gift cards and treats from local businesses.
Rogers said Beth Shook and Caitlynn Thompson went around town asking for donations to the gift bags for Appreciation Week. Rogers said they secured gift cards and discount offers from almost every business in Andrews, including Anna’s Attic, both of Floyd Walker’s restaurants Frannie’s and Maria’s, as well as Morning Fog, which donated $5 gift cards for everyone at the school, along with the local NAPA, which is offering a discount for teachers all month long.
Rogers praised the young ladies’ initiative and also the community’s support of both teachers and students, saying “That’s when you see the importance of community, of how we help each other and focus on our future. And that’s a good place to end as we wind up this school year and prepare for graduation.”
First instituted in 1984, National Teacher Appreciation Week is held annually during the first week of May.
Details: Visit ahs.cherokee.k12.nc.us.