Pinwheel Power: Boonville Staff Delivers Unexpected Gifts to Students
Elementary teachers and staff let kids know they care
BOONVILLE-How do you let students know they’re not forgotten? That’s the question Boonville Elementary Principal Annette Johnson asked herself earlier this month. With schools in North Carolina shifting to remote learning due to the COVID-19 quarantine, it’s been more than a month since students were in the classroom. Johnson wanted to do something to encourage kids and parents during this time.
“We wanted to let them know we’re thinking about them,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to stay in touch with kids and we just wanted a way to connect.”
And so, Johnson started thinking. She wanted to do something, to leave a physical reminder for families to see. Fourth grade teachers at the school had done something similar before Easter, delivering Easter eggs to each of their students. This time, however, most of the ideas came with logistical problems. Due to the high winds lately, she didn’t want to try balloons. If you left something sitting in the driveway it could get rained on and a mailed note just didn’t seem personal enough.
“I just tried to think of what we could leave in a yard,” Johnson said. “After going through what wouldn’t work, I started thinking about pinwheels.”
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. You could take pinwheels, attach a laminated note and then tape it to the mailbox. It wouldn’t blow away in the wind and pinwheels won’t be damaged due to rain. With a concept in mind, Johnson ordered the pinwheels and, with the help of her youngest daughter, wrote a laminated note saying “This family is loved by Boonville School Staff” that was attached to each one. Now she just needed help to deliver pinwheels to all of the current Boonville Elementary families. It didn’t take long to find volunteers.
“We kinda put together a spreadsheet [with kids’ names] and I asked if anyone wanted to help,” Johnson said. “Within three hours, we had every kid claimed. The staff was excited to do something like this.”
A Perfect Opportunity
In fact, Johnson found, several of her teachers had already been thinking of ways to get in touch with students through more than email or webchats. Second grade teacher Ashley Miller had wanted to do something for her students and this provided the perfect opportunity.
“We just miss our kids and wanted the chance to see them,” Miller said. “When I went around, I taped some of the pinwheels to the mailboxes and some I put in the ground, if the family didn’t have a mailbox. I had some bamboo skewers that my husband gave to help keep them secure.”
Miller said it was fun waving at kids who were watching in the window or seeing some out in their yards.
“I just wanted them to know they’re loved and that we miss them,” she said.
Even though the staff went to every house by April 23, there’s always the possibility someone could have taken the pinwheel off a mailbox or it could have blown away in the wind. If you’re a parent of a current Boonville Elementary student and your child didn’t get a pinwheel, just call the school at (336)-367–7021. Or if you’re driving back home from the store, you can swing by the school and pick one up from the pinwheel patch, which is right out front.
Boonville’s staff also doesn’t plan on this being the last time they make a delivery. Johnson said they might try something other than a pinwheel next time.
“We might try to do a frisbee or just something to get kids outside and active,” Johnson said. “We definitely want to do a round two.”
Brian Carlton is the editor of NWNC Magazine. He can be reached at brian.carlton38@gmail.com.
