Teachers at East Hamilton School were able to provide bikes to Apison Elementary students who did not have them, thanks to an innovative teacher training day activity.Rather than start the school year off with a regular teacher training day, East Hamilton School teachers found a way to incorporate community giving into their first day back.
Through an anonymous donor, East Hamilton instructional coaches Ronda Foster and Michelle Bettis were able to secure the parts to put together 12 children’s bikes. The catch? As teachers went to each station for paperwork and information to get organized for the first day back, they were also going on a scavenger hunt for the pieces, which they then had to put together in teams.
What the teachers didn’t know was that, after the bikes were checked for safety, they were donated to students from nearby Apison Elementary, who rode them across the auditorium to surprise and thank the teachers at the end of the day.
And when that moment happened, the students’ smiles as they showed off their new bikes brought up a lot of emotions for everyone in the room, Bettis said.
“There were a lot of tears in the room when that happened,” she said.