By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Meadow View Elementary School students had a few suggestions on May 22 for their teachers to unwind over the next few months while out on summer vacation.

The morning after the students’ final classes of the semester, MVES teachers gathered in the school’s lunchroom to reflect on their year and celebrate the change they made in the kids’ lives.

During the ceremony, gifted resource teacher Lindsey Thigpen presented a slideshow including videos of children offering summer tips to their teachers. Among the suggestions were picking flowers, taking trips and lounging on the beach to “refill their gas tanks.”

“Take a nap, don’t cook and go to Zaxby’s instead,” one student said.

“Let the kids be with their husbands and go do something fun,” another student said of the female teachers.

“They can go to Disney World,” another student offered.

The students also shared their favorite things about MVES, such as visiting the writing center, taking part in GRC, spending time in the library and using the school’s computers.

MVES Principal Rachea Simms said the final day of classes on May 21 offered insight into the difference the teachers have made in the students’ lives, as many students were upset they had to leave the school.

“Thank you for what you all do. Thank you for a wonderful year,” Simms said.

Simms presented gifts to four MVES faculty members – Custodian Terry Smith, custodian Mary Wiseman, special education aide Brenda Mullins and third-grade teacher Sandy Swindall – who are retiring this year.

Alabaster School Board President Adam Moseley said elementary school teachers lay a foundation for a child’s lifetime.

“You guys really do make an impact on their lives, not just that one year they are in school,” Moseley said. “It’s for a lifetime.”

MVES second-grade teacher Lakesha Fleming encouraged her peers to stay focused on benefiting the kids.

“Sometimes we don’t get all the pats on our backs that we deserve, but it’s not about that,” Fleming said. “I’m not doing it for me, I’m doing it for the children. Don’t ever lose sight of that.”