AISD staff to be honored
By Donnie A. Lucas
With teacher and staff appreciation week just a couple of weeks away, two local organizations have opted to honor school personnel a week early.
The annual Ben Richey Boys Ranch dinner for teachers and staff is set for Tuesday, May 2 at the pavilion at the ranch. The event, which is open to all AISD employees, will beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Staff members are urged to sign up in the teachers’ workroom at either campus in order to get a head count of those attending.
“We want to show our appreciation to the staff for all the work they do throughout the year,” Boys Ranch director Mike Bean said. “They provide support to our guys at the ranch, as well as the students of the entire community, and this is a way to thank them for a job well done.”
The Albany Masonic Lodge will also feed teachers and staff breakfast on Wednesday, May 3 starting at 7:00 a.m. in the First Christian Church fellowship hall.
“This is the 14th year for the Masons to recognize the school staff with a breakfast,” Masonic Lodge secretary Bob Skelton said. “The local Brookshire’s Grocery Store will again partner with us by providing much of the food that our members will prepare.”
While the nationwide Teacher Appreciation Week is May 8-12, the Albany PTO has opted to wait a week to honor teachers since the designated week also falls when the majority of STAAR testing will be conducted.
“We are waiting until May 15-19 to honor our school staff,” PTO president Ragan Riley said. “We are using a theme of ‘Our Staff is the Best in the World,’ with an emphasis of a different country for each day.”
Riley said that teachers and staff will be provided a meal each day, along with gifts of appreciation.
“They will receive snacks, breakfast or lunch, and gifts each day that week with a theme from a different country each day,” Riley said. “We even have some food trucks coming.”
She also noted that the PTO is seeking additional sponsors to help share the expense of the week.
“Right now we only have ResourceCare and First Financial Bank signed up, so we need some more help,” she said.
Riley asked anyone interested in helping with appreciation week to contact her at 214-663-3271, or contact any PTO officer.
