Thank a Teacher campaign marks Teacher Appreciation Week

As Delaware celebrates National Teacher Appreciation Week, the Delaware Department of Education, in partnership with the Delaware State Education Association, Delaware Parent Teacher Association and Rodel Foundation of Delaware encourages the public to thank the state’s great educators for their dedication and hard work to help students succeed.

“This is an opportunity for parents, students and community members throughout the state to say ‘thank you’ for what our teachers do day in and day out, too often unnoticed and unheralded,” Secretary of Education Mark Murphy said.

The partners are encouraging Delawareans to thank the educators making a difference in their lives, families and communities this week and to submit photographs and words of thanks so they can be shared more broadly by emailing them to DelExcels@doe.k12.de.us. Entries will be posted on delexcels.org/about-us/thank-a-teacher.

Murphy thanked Leigh Weldin, his son’s AP history teacher at Red Clay Consolidated School District’s Conrad Schools of Science.

“She sets a high bar for her students and helps them reach it. My son has been challenged, and through that, he has grown both in his interest in U.S. history as well as in his knowledge and skills,” Murphy said, noting Weldin especially has helped his son refine his writing skills.

Created through a public-private partnership of DDOE, DSEA, DPTA and Rodel, www.DelExcels.org aims to better inform Delawareans about the state’s new standards and assessments. The site features answers to common questions, video, presentations and links to a variety of resources, including practice tests for the new Smarter assessment, comparison documents looking at old versus new assessment questions, and a Principal Toolkit with resources to help a school host a parent night to explain the standards and assessments.