A teacher looked out from her porch to see her students and their parents on her lawn to thank her for her dedication to the job during the pandemic. Leslie Chouinard, from St. Thomas, Ontario, has been a teacher for 35 years. When the pandemic struck, she had never taught online, so she dedicated hours of her life to planning at-home activities including singing songs, reading stories and even dance parties to help her students get through the various lockdowns. Even though she started with no experience with online teaching she ended up having so much fun that she would dress up in silly costumes at least twice a week and laugh so much with the kids even the neighbors could hear. On three separate occasions, Leslie went out of her way to drive to each of her student’s houses to check in and drop off goodie bags maintaining the face-to-face connection with these young children Her dedication paid off, with the students engaging with their learning. So much so, once summer hit and it was safer to go outside, they decided to repay her hard work. After two parents of students in Leslie’s class ran into one another they decided to plan a big surprise for her starting with a video of messages from all the kids.
