Texas preschool teacher surprises students with a backyard class
In San Antonio, Texas, 15 preschoolers got an exciting surprise when their teacher showed up ready for class outside each of their homes.
A few weeks into quarantine, Myra Garza, a preschool teacher at Holy Spirit Catholic School was missing her class and wanted to find a way to connect with them that wasn’t through a computer. After getting approval from her school and an overwhelmingly positive response from parents, Garza packed up her car with activities and went to do in-person lessons in her students’ backyards.
“Most families were telling me all morning or all afternoon [the kids] were like, ‘When she coming?’ ‘Is she coming?’ And they were constantly just looking outside, waiting for me to get there. So they were excited just to have their teacher there,” Garza told Fox News.
Garza spent about 30 minutes outside each student’s house and while she was fully prepared to do a lesson that included phonics, alphabet, and math, most of the kids were just eager to show her around their homes and riddle her with questions.
“We kind of just visited with each other. You know some kids didn't even want to do the lesson. They just wanted to talk and they just wanted to show me things. So I kind of just took their lead," she said. “I think they were just fascinated with the fact that I was there.”
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Garza said the parents also seemed excited to interact with another adult and were grateful for the small sense of normalcy her visit brought. The 13-year teaching veteran is hoping to do another round of visits to her kids at the end of May as a way to finish off the school year.
“It was a great joy for me. I've loved it. I had a good time," she said. "I left, you know, crying some of the time because I love my job. And, you know, this little class is so special.”