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Fairfield shows its appreciation for teachers
FAIRFIELD — More than 200 teachers and administrators came to the fourth annual Teacher Appreciation Event held Wednesday afternoon at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.
About 20 businesses set up tables in the arts center’s expo hall, which were filled with school supplies for the teachers to take with them. The event was hosted by the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce, which had invited teachers and administrators from Fairfield, Maharishi School, Pekin, Cardinal and Van Buren. Chamber Director Mendy McAdams drew names out of a hat for teachers to come forward to accept raffle prizes.
McAdams said the main purpose of the event is to show the community’s appreciation of teachers, while also giving them supplies that they would otherwise have to purchase for their classrooms.
“About midway through the year, their supplies start to dwindle,” McAdams said. “On average, teachers spend $600 out of their own pocket to get needed supplies for their room. That can include décor items, but a lot of times it’s basic supplies.”
Autumn Brown teaches second grade at Pekin, and she was one of about 18 Panther teachers in attendance. She’s attended all four years of the Teacher Appreciation Event, and said she and her co-workers are so grateful for the support.
“The businesses kept telling us when we were in line, ‘Take as much as you want,’” she said. “It’s great to see so much community support.”
Brown said one of the big ticket items the teachers really appreciated receiving this year was headphones, because every student at Pekin needs headphones to take assessments on their computers. At Pekin, every student in grades kindergarten through 12th grade has a computer, so that means there’s high demand for headphones, too.
“Each teacher got five or six pairs of headphones, and that was great because headphones can be expensive,” Brown said.
Jay Thompson, K-8 Successor Coordinator in Fairfield, said he’s grateful to receive so many donations from local businesses, which he’s able to pass onto his students in his work as a counselor. These donations also help him to stock the hygiene closet at Fairfield High School, which offers hygiene products and food to anyone in the district.
“Teachers are always looking for sales on these items, and free is even better,” he said. “I think it benefits the community to have something like this. It also helps the teachers feel appreciated, that the community sees the teachers going above and beyond to make sure their kids have what they need to be successful.”
Richard Beall, Head of School at Maharishi School, is teaching a class to sixth-graders and one to 12th-graders, in addition to his duties as an administrator this year.
“Pencils just seem to disappear,” he joked.
Beall said he appreciated being able to take advantage of the donated items that included things like tissues, hand sanitizers and pens.
“I’m sure that virtually every teacher in this room is doing out-of-pocket expenses,” he said. “This is a testimony to the quality of the community to have businesses that support us like this.”
McAdams said the businesses coordinated ahead of time which items they were going to donate so they didn’t donate the same ones.
“Some of those items like Lysol wipes, we’ll allow two sponsors to bring them because it’s something every teacher wants,” she said.
McAdams said that she plans to make a few changes to the event next year based on teacher feedback, and that will be to start it right after school at 4 p.m., and to end it earlier in the evening around 5:30 p.m. so the teachers can spend more of the evening with their family.
McAdams thanked the businesses that stepped forward to make this an enjoyable night out for the teachers, such as Jefferson County Ciderworks and Fishback and Stephenson Cider House, which donated cider, the arts center for donating a keg of beer, and Sweet ‘N Saucy for doing the catering.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
