Kellogg School District celebrates teachers, staff

KELLOGG — This week was National Teacher Appreciation Week and the Kellogg School District celebrated in a very unique way.

With social distancing guidelines still in place and schools in throes of virtual learning, Dr. Nancy Larsen and her staff at the district office got creative.

What they came up with was equal parts fun and inspiring as they braved the suddenly cold and wet weather to show their teachers and staff how much they were appreciated.

“Our staff has been working hard and we face the same challenges as our neighbors in the community. It’s been stressful,” Larsen said. “So, this was an opportunity to celebrate. It gave each of us a chance to do something different and see each other. Keeping our morale up is important to me. I could read it in the faces of our people, they enjoyed the opportunity.”

Larsen had her staff pull into the KSD campus near the district office and had them drive through the multiple parking lots as part of the Tour of Treats, where they had various stops designed to inform, inspire and thank each of the staff members that came through.

The drive-by event concluded with Dr. Larsen herself, and she had the most delicious surprise of all.

What appeared to be just a candy bar wrapped in a poem, was actually a candy wrapped in a poem with a hidden dollar amount taped under the outer note which were handed out to each attending staff member.

Larsen had the idea last year, where she decided that she wanted to do something more meaningful and fun for her staff than just buying them the traditional coffee mug.

So instead of buying mugs, she added up the cost of the mugs and then decided to use that money in varying denominations to surprise her staff.

“I was able to celebrate with each employee as they opened up their surprise,” Larsen said. “This year, I did the same thing only with a pandemic theme. It was a really fun way to do it.”

The event was scheduled for the day that had originally been scheduled for their retirement dinner, and teacher and employee recognition, so Larsen chose to keep the date and celebrate her staff and even extend some recognition.

Kelton Enich was named KSD Teacher of the Year, while Darcy Furlin was named Employee of the Year.