Staff Morale Booster for Remote Teachers

Pre-Covid, one of the ways the staff at my school would bond was over food. We had potluck breakfasts and lunches pretty often. Connecting with colleagues over food was an integral part of our culture. Some staff would joke, “This school isn’t perfect, but we sure eat well!” As the 2020 holiday season approached, staff members expressed how much they would miss our annual Christmas breakfast and social hour after school. In an effort to boost morale and thank our faculty and staff for their hard work and dedication, I made it my mission to bring back a missing piece of our culture: food!

I came up with the idea of a drive-by lunch pickup after reading about how some schools did drive-by’s for diploma pickup, school supply drop off, and celebratory car parades. I worked with my food service manager to come up with some menu choices, being careful to add some vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy free options. Next, I sent a survey to the teachers, allowing them to pick from the menu, and indicate a pickup time. The rest was up to my food service staff- they put together a lunch box full of goodies and labeled each one with the name of the recipient.

On the day of our boxed lunch pickup, I stood outside with two other administrators and as staff members pulled up, we delivered the lunches through car windows. Even though we were masked, gloved, and six feet apart, the connections we made were unmatched. That one small act of kindness brightened the spirits of everyone involved, and I’m already planning the next one!