While the focus in recent weeks has been on helping students at the Eastern Townships School Board (ETSB) recognize graduates, there are 25 other members of the ETSB community walking the halls of schools and centres for the last time this year. Teachers and staff at Sherbrooke Elementary School (SES) came up with a special way to celebrate the retirement of two of their colleagues; art teacher Celine Lecompte and Handicapped Student Attendant Sue Coté.
“We wanted to offer something,” explained music teacher Tracey Rivette.
According to Rivette, social committee member Sonia Beauregard and some helpers came up with a plan for a car parade to visit the home of Coté, who has been working at the ETSB since 2005.
Teachers and staff decorated their cars with streamers, posters in the windows and messages written across the sides with special washable markers and headed out yesterday around 1 p.m. for Coté’s house to surprise her.
They then circled back to the school to fete Celine Lecompte with a small, social distance reception in the afternoon.
Lecompte has been at SES for 21 years.
The two SES staff members were also offered a keepsake in the form of a song performed by a virtual choir set up by Rivette.
“I recorded all three parts,” Rivette said, and then she sent them out to a handful of SES teachers who felt comfortable enough to learn the harmonies and record one of the parts. The choir got a boost from Former SES teacher Dana Gillam, now at Lennoxville Elementary, who lent her voice to the virtual choir.
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