The sounds of laughter from the students at recess drifted across Weise Park as 15 retired school teachers huddled in the shelter house Thursday, Oct. 1. The cold, the wind and the sounds recalled days past of recess and football game duties.
The annual “We Don’t Have To Go Back To School Get Together” was postponed in August when the derecho devastated Pattee Park, where we had planned to meet. Oct. 1 seemed like a safe date to be able to socially distance and still reconnect with many of the members we hadn’t seen since March but strong winds and temps in the low 50s proved us wrong!
The retired teachers welcomed two new members and shared derecho survival stories. We heard of the many hardships the current teachers were facing — long hours, online lessons with little or no planning time available, trying to communicate with students while socially distancing — and when we heard there were veteran teachers who often left the building at the end of the day in tears, we were heartbroken.
We won’t meet again until March, when things will hopefully be better, but until then we are keeping all classroom teachers everywhere in our prayers! Please stay safe!
