SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) - Nurses, doctors, administrative assistants, janitors and many other employees at Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff found random notes of encouragement on the windshields of their vehicles last week.
Teachers from Community Christian School went around the different Regional West employee parking lots to place these notes and give these workers a little added encouragement going into the holiday season. The notes were drawn, colored, written and created by all the students at the school, from 18-month-old toddlers in the daycare to fifth-graders.
“We just want all of our health care workers in the area to know that CCS is praying for them and thinking of them and just wanted to show our appreciation during this difficult time,” Principal Deirdre Amundsen told the Scottsbluff Star-Herald.
Amundsen was the mastermind behind the project, asking her teachers to do the project with their students. First grade teacher Brandy Johnson said it was a great way to show their students other ways to help out the community.
“(It let) the kids know that we can do things in our community,” she said. “It doesn’t have to just be in school praying - which is a great thing to do - but then we can actually do a physical, tangible, hands-on thing to support our community.”
The teachers decided that last Monday was a good day to go out to put the cards and signs on the employees’ windows since it gave them all a little outdoor break from their in-service meetings. While students were on their early Thanksgiving break and didn’t get to help place the notes, their teachers said they had a lot of fun creating them.
“We have nurses on our school board, so we see the toll that it takes on them. And many of our families also are doctors and nurses out there,” pre-kindergarten teacher Dana Caldwell said. “So, it’s nice to be able to show a little love and support for them.”
The timing of the project couldn’t have been better, they said. With COVID cases rising and Thanksgiving right around the corner, Amundsen said medical employees could really use a boost. Statewide, different tributes were also held Monday for Public Health Thank You Day.
“We all think that amidst this COVID and this pandemic that we all have struggles that we’re going through, and lots of stress and depression and lots of anguish going on right now,” she said. “But when we think of these medical workers and what they’re doing every day, I just can’t imagine being in their place. So I think just the empathy toward them is what led me to the idea. And the kids stepped up, and were excited to create things for them.”
Amundsen and the other teachers said they just wish they had more signs so they could have put one on every single employee vehicle. Nevertheless, they are hopeful that the message is received by them all.
“We’re hoping to offer encouragement and support for the medical staff-everyone from the doctors to the janitors and the cooks and the CNAs that are just putting themselves in the midst of COVID all day, every day for our community,” fourth and fifth grade teacher Darcy Frizzell said. “Just so that they know that we’re praying for them and praying for safety and that we appreciate the sacrifice and the emotion that goes with all of that.”
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