Chenowith Teacher Parade brings smiles, pencils

By Tom Peterson 

Honk, Honk - who loves you? Your  teacher. Your student.

Third-grader Hannah Pewitt held her sign high on Friday, May 1, while standing on the side of Hostetler Street near Wahtonka High School.  

“We love you Miss Ford,” her sign read as teachers drove by honking horns, throwing pencils and waving in a 40-car parade.

It was merely a chance to reconnect if only for a few loud seconds. 

Pewitt has been writing her teacher daily online in ClassDojo, her mother Karen Pewitt said. “She misses her a lot.” 

Twenty-five year-old Erin Peters, a third-grade teacher at Chenowith, organized the parade during the past few weeks. 

The self-acknowledged extrovert was happy with the results. 

“It was so much fun to see all of those kids and their families smiling and waiving,” she said. “It was a cool way to bring everybody back together.”

Internet classrooms and making instructional videos is just not the same as teaching in person.

“It’s challenging not to do those things she said of teaching, hiking, seeing friends and getting organized for classes. 

“That all went out the window. It was a huge shift,” she said. 

So, the parade was a perfect distraction.

“We ended up seeing a lot of families today, which is really cool.”