KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Traffic at Sarah Moore Green Academy looks a little different these days, with some students in-person and others virtual. However, two fifth-grade teachers decided the distance would not stop their love for their students.
"We wanted to make sure that even though they were virtual that they knew the adults on the other side of their screen wanted them to be successful," Amber Brubaker said, a fifth-grade teacher.
Since they can only see so many students in the building she and another teacher, Melanie Ratliff, decided to come up with another way to connect with students.
"We thought, 'what if we went to them through their screen door or on their porch?'" Brubaker said.
During lunch, the pair visits a student, sits on their lawn and they share a bite to eat.
"They light up and we light up too. It's so much fun," Brubaker said.
It all started at the beginning of the year.
"When parents came and picked up materials they signed up for a day for us to come and eat," she said.
Needless to say, it was a hit. They said there is a waiting list through November, and that all 50 of their students signed up to have lunch.
It is a small gesture that hits home for everyone involved. So, even though it may be a while before virtual students walk through these columns in front of their school and through the front door, their teachers want them to know one thing is for sure.
"We will fight, we will do whatever it takes to have a relationship because they are worth the relationship and their families are worth it," Brubaker said.