Wing teachers, staff parade through students’ neighborhoods

Wing Elementary students and their guardians lined the street Thursday in Sikeston as they waited for about 20 teachers and staff with their school to drive by during a parade organized just for the students.

Leonna Heuring/Standard Democrat

SIKESTON — Students who attend Wing Elementary in Sikeston were in for a treat Thursday afternoon when some of their teachers visited them in a vehicle parade through their neighborhoods.

Following the social distancing guidelines, approximately 20 teachers and staff with Wing Elementary navigated through the streets their students reside just to give them some reassuring smiles, horn honks and shouts of “Hello” and “We miss you!”

Many of their vehicles were decorated with signs that read: “We miss you!” and “We love you!”

Wing Elementary first grade teacher Heather Aldrich said she misses all 20 of her students since school was dismissed on March 18. Prior to the parade, she said she was excited to see the students again.

“We hope to give them comfort and for them to know we’re still there for them,” Aldrich said.

Toni Davis stood at the corner of Innsbruck and Stoneville with her grandchildren, Cameron Davis, a first grader at Wing, and preschooler Nolan Hummel, as they waited for the parade to arrive.

Cameron was on the lookout for his teacher, Erica Bigham. When he found her, he smiled and waved real big.

Before the parade, Cameron admitted he didn’t miss his school work, but he did miss his teachers and classmates. When all the vehicles in the parade had passed and the teachers were out of sight, Cameron stood for a second with his head down.

“I think he realized how much he really misses them,” his grandmother said.

Wing Elementary Principal Alecia Jordan said the purpose for the parade was to provide some good in the community and, of course, to reconnect with students —even if from a distance.

“We wanted to lay our eyes on them and for them to see their teachers, too, and break up some monotony,” said

Escorted by the school resource officers, the parade started at Wing and looped through the various neighborhoods.

“I’m a member of a principal’s group on Facebook that’s been tossing around ideas to keep staff and kids motivated during this time of difficulty,” Jordan said.

Jordan said she’s been communicating with Wing staff, and together they came up with the idea to try the parade.

“We’ve been working on it for the past week or so,” Jordan said.

Elsewhere in the Sikeston R-6 School District, the Kindergarten and Early Childhood Education Center is also conducting parades for its students. Faculty and staff have divided the parade into four sections. The first was held on Wednesday when over 50 staff participated in about 25 vehicles, which drove through the north side of Sikeston. The second parade was set to begin around 11:30 a.m. Friday and visited the west side of town. The final two will be April 1 and April 3. Parents can look for routes and starting times on the school’s Facebook page.

The teachers and staff observe the social distancing guidelines by parading in their vehicles. They will be driving slowly and waving to the children. However, they will not stop, so please have children waiting in their front yards following the social distancing guidelines as well, the school asked on its Facebook page.

Children can make signs to hold when we drive by if they wish to, To keep children entertained while they are waiting for the teachers and staff to come by, the principal said theycould play with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, or any other outdoor activity or toy.

Kindergarten Center Principal Jennifer Hobeck credited kindergarten teacher Hannah Hancock for organizing their school’s effort.

“We just want our students and families to know we are thinking about them, love them and miss them,” Hobeck said. “But even more than that, we want our community to know we are all fighting this together.”