By CONNIE NOLEN / Community Columnist

“We’re creating spaghetti supper baskets for the second grade teachers!”
“First grade teachers need parent lunch helpers!”
These were the early communications that I received from the parents who are now on the Pelham High School PTO. As our kids grew up and went through all of Pelham’s schools, these intuitive parents always seemed to be hardwired into teachers’ needs.
While I was never able to help with first grade lunches, I was eventually coaxed into the creation of a pretty sweet spaghetti supper basket. The creativity to invent a basket containing all of the fixings of a spaghetti supper to send home with teachers revealed to me the depth of care the Pelham community has for its teachers. Our community has always demonstrated a devotion to teachers that is humbling.
Pelham’s parents have provided bags of school supplies to share with the kids, money to buy classroom supplies, money to help with publications and computers, countless volunteer hours and perhaps most amazingly of all, these parents have supported us and fed us.
Yesterday, as PHS teachers worked a very long day leading classes, having meetings and preparing for open house, our Pelham High School PTO moms began arriving in the afternoon with sincere smiles, beautiful fresh flowers, tablecloths, bowls, baskets and aluminum pans full of food. These gracious volunteers transformed our library into a lovely café complete with beautifully covered tables with fresh flower centerpieces.
During dinner, they attended to our needs bringing us water, taking our plates and urging us to choose from among the beautiful, fresh-baked desserts lined up atop the bookshelves. The care of these devoted parents sustained and fortified us to spend the next few hours meeting with parents, discussing our plans for the year and sharing our vision for students as well as highlighting the students’ efforts so far this school year.
My final communication from school last night came in a text from PHS teacher Jamie Stephenson, “Plenty of leftovers from dinner tonight for a lovely lunch tomorrow. Spread the word!”
Pelham’s parents’ care for teachers is abundant.