The same “lunch ladies” who prepare and serve lunch to hundreds of students each day recently organized gifts to give to a handful of teachers. Wrapped with a red bow, these packages included an assortment of teaching materials like pencils, paper clips and dry erase markers.
Food service staff member Regan Johnson was inspired by an idea on the sharing site Pinterest. After trying it out at a previous school she worked at, she brought the idea to Northview.
“I thought it would be a nice gesture after the year the teachers have had,” Johnson said. “So I brought the idea to my fellow lunch ladies, and we all agreed that it would be fun.”
Everyone on the lunch staff contributed to the project so that enough supplies could be bought. Once they were assembled, Johnson cut up a list of names of every teacher in the school and then randomly picked a lucky seven from the batch.
“Even when it’s just something little like that, it says ‘we’re thinking of you,’” said Johnson. “We wanted to put a little sunshine in their day.”
English and Special Education teacher Karen Michewicz, one of the recipients, definitely felt the sunshine.
“I received an email from the front office, telling me to come [downstairs],” Michewicz said. “The gift was a surprise, and the unexpectedness of it put a smile in my day.”
A similar reaction came from Art teacher Tanya Lockwood.
“It made me feel so wonderful that other people are thinking of me,” Lockwood said. “Even if it’s just a random draw.”
Knowing what seemingly small acts of appreciation can do, Lockwood enjoys giving the lunch ladies little gifts of her own. Even if it’s just a candy bar or box of donuts, she knows that they may not always receive enough thanks for their work.
“I think ‘small acts of kindness’ is a misnomer,” Michewicz said. “What may seem small will arrive in a person’s life just when they need it and have a positive, memorable impact.”
