St. Thomas More Catholic School teacher Colleen Skiba shouts to a student during the school's "Miss you Carcade" in the school parking lot Friday in Elgin. School families drove by and waved to teachers safely spaced out in the lot just to get a little face time.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
FaceTime is nice, but sometimes nothing beats actual face-to-face time.
With that in mind, St. Thomas More Catholic School held a "Miss You Carcade" Friday in its parking lot in Elgin. The teachers spread out across the parking lot for an hour so families could drive through and wave as they went by.
"We thought this would be a nice pick-me-up for the teachers and students," Principal Sonja Keane said. "I know from talking to them that the teachers desperately miss the kids and I think the kids miss the teachers."
Teacher Colleen Skiba echoed the sentiment. "This has been awful, I miss them so much," she said.
"I know all teachers miss their students, but these kids are unbelievable," Skiba said. "I wake up every morning thinking about them. I've been crying. It's awful, just awful."
But even just a few minutes of drive-by time had boosted her spirits. "I'm happy, jubilant, so thrilled to see them," she said.
Fifth-grader Isabella Panyasiri holds up a sign lamenting her current home schooling situation Friday during the St. Thomas More Catholic School "Miss You Carcade" in Elgin. Teachers spread out across their parking lot and waved to families driving past just to get a little face time with their students.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
Sixth-grader Kendall Pemberton pops up through the sunroof to smile and wave at teachers at St. Thomas More Catholic School in Elgin during a car parade Friday. Students had a chance to wave at their teachers who were spread out across the parking lot.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
St. Thomas More Catholic School held a drive-by parade for families who had a chance to wave to teachers and staff at the Elgin school Friday.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com