We Salute You

At Chets, we not only celebrate the departure of our 5th graders as they set out to explore another chapter, but we also take the time to celebrate with our faculty. We celebrate to thank teachers for their hard work and dedication in educating the children in their care and reward teachers with public recognition that have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

The last day of school is a half day, students depart at noon, teachers lock their classroom doors, and travel to a lunch destination. An elegant lunch is provided by our principal, Susan Phillips. Teachers enjoy the opportunity to dine, build stronger relationships, and reflect on a year full of great accomplishments.

Rich Relationships
The awards event this year started, as always, with Susan reading a few heart felt letters she had received from parents and staff recognizing the dedication of particular learning leaders. The letters wreaked of obstacles hurdled and personal triumphs, you could feel the intense appreciation of parents because these teachers stayed ever committed to academic and emotional success of their children. This is such a fitting way to say thank you to the teachers, so they wrap up the year and leave for summer knowing that their hard work this year is so appreciated.

Next we celebrated our, Mouseketeers. Our beginning teachers who are rewarded with an autograph pen that reminds them to autograph all their work with excellence.

The Spirit of Quality and Excellence award then recognizes our new Nationally Board Certified Teachers, our Teacher of the Year, our Employee of the Year, and this year the Duval Math Teacher of the Year who was selected from our staff.

In a perfect fit with this year's theme, next we celebrated our Dreamers, Believers, Darers, and Doers. The Dreamers included learning leaders who had a dream and made it happen. The Believers were teachers who took special care of our humanitarian efforts. The Darers took a leap into a new area, this year it was blogging. And, the Doers were the dedicated leaders in each area of Daniel Pink's book Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning. These teachers received words of recognition and each walked away with a special gift signifying their accomplishments.

To wrap the awards, we celebrated the Park Closing with those that are leaving us to embark on new adventures.

Our last leg of the journey on this special day includes a glance forward into next year. The anticipation has built throughout the event and teachers readily await the blinds closing, the lights dimming, and the video beginning....where will next year's adventure take us?