Making an Impact: Teacher Appreciation during COVID-19

COVID-19 has taken us all by surprise this year with massive changes for local businesses. Our employees and their families have been seriously impacted by these changes and we've all had to make some adjustments. As the rhythm of life shifted to working and schooling from home our morning team meetings have had to be re-booked to accommodate classroom Zoom meeting schedules. There have been lots of discussions about balancing work and family obligations. We've been thrust into silly, 100% real-life situations with our clients while working from home (our office is currently closed).

The Data Driven Design team has experienced an incredible level of understanding and laughter with people who are also adjusting to their "surprise" schedule changes as well. We're eternally grateful to the partners who have rolled with this new set-up and who we've been able to connect with through these challenges. This is why we love working with people and why we're so committed to finding ways to contribute to our community.

"Yes, that's our dog barking rabidly in the background. It's just an Amazon delivery or the UPS guy. The dog thinks he's here to murder us all."

Here in Beaverton, Oregon where we're located, the Beaverton School District hastily closed in mid-March, with the hope that the community would soon be able to resume in-person learning following Spring break. Unfortunately, it was not to be. With cases ebbing and flowing in the Portland metro area, we've had to accept the reality that classes are not going to resume for the 2019-2020 school year. We know just how hard the learning has been for students who have found themselves virtually completing work at tucked-away desks for hours on end. We also see the herculean effort educators are putting into their jobs to keep learners on-track, emotionally supported, and connected to their classmates.

We see you, teachers and support staff!
You are amazing!

Prior to COVID-19, our team had already dedicated more than 130 hours to volunteering in schools during the 2019-2020 school year. And with the additional stresses on families and teachers, our team stepped up again to take on a unique task to celebrate staff. We worked with the PTC at a local elementary school to ensure that their teachers felt the love. Families submitted video clips so that Data Driven Design could compile thank you videos for the entire school. No one was left out. Each grade level got a thank you video from all of their students. We made videos for all of the "specials" teachers - Library, Technology, P.E., and Music. We made a video for the Special Education staff, who do so much to support kids and often get overlooked. We even made one for the rest of the school support staff - crossing guards, the principal, lunch ladies, reading specialists, and janitors. They say it takes a village to raise kids - and boy do we know it.

It is an understatement to say that the school staff was incredibly excited to get such heartfelt videos from the kids they work so hard for. The videos brought tears to eyes and helped our community stay connected during this difficult time apart. We were so happy we could find a way to put our video-making and editing skills to good use for teachers and staff.

We'll see you in the fall, teachers! We can't wait for you to be able to take our kids back - pretty, pretty, please!