News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Park View Elementary School celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week with a survivor challenge game for staff to participate in.
Principal Dr. Melody Presley said staff members come into the office each day and spin a wheel with various prizes and comedic, lighthearted challenges on it. Presley said completing challenges earns points, and the person with the most points by the end of the event will win a large prize.
“Everybody is a little scattered, overscheduled, feeling the stress of the end of the year at this time of year in May, and so we wanted to do something fun,” Presley said “And what’s really neat is a lot of the challenges allow them to show their appreciation to each other.”
Presley said the challenges include pretending the floor is lava, leaving secret appreciation notes around the school for other staff, and singing or dancing through the halls. She said the whole thing is a good way to humanize teachers in the eyes of their students.
“The pressure of testing is off, and so I think it’s good for kids to see their teachers and their staff members at their school having fun, and to see them in a different way then they do normally,” Presley said.
Presley said if they all earn enough points collectively, the challenge will be extended by one more day.
“There’s all these little things where they’re showing each other how much they appreciate each other, and I think that, to me, is almost more valuable than, like, us just saying, ‘Thank you teachers, thank you staff, you’re doing a good job. Here’s a lunch,'” Presley said. “So it’s a little bit – has a little more meaning to it.”
Presley said the challenge was originally scheduled from Tuesday to Thursday with a possible extra day on Friday, but it has been extended through the following Tuesday because two school days were cancelled during the week.
Presley said prizes vary from small items like candy or t-shirts up to an Amazon Echo Dot.
