Article and Pictures by Linda Charlton
‘Normal’ can take many shapes and sizes. On Monday and Tuesday in Clermont, normal was a large room full of teachers, gathering for breakfast and screaming with joy. The occasion was the South Lake Chamber of Commerce’s 32nd Annual Teacher Appreciation Breakfast. For the past two years, the breakfast has been at individual schools, with funding directed to the schools specifically for that purpose.
This year the event was back to normal: elementary school teachers on Monday, middle and high school teachers on Tuesday, with estimated crowds of 750 and 700 respectively, all held at the Wesley Center of First United Methodist Church in downtown Clermont.
Screaming was a part of the popular school spirit competition, where the loudest and most enthusiastic schools won $1,500 for copy and printing services at Office Depot. The elementary crowd brought boomwhackers, party horns, the occasional drum and lots of lung power. The middle/high crowd ratcheted the noise up with some bigger toys. Lake Minneola High actually brought the band’s drum line.
Spirit winners were Lake Minneola High, East Ridge Middle, and the folks from Minneola Charter Elementary, who arrived in their own school buses (three of them) on Monday.
Spirit prizes weren’t the only ones given out at the 2-day event. As master of ceremony, Jenna Emerson (from Cemex) pointed out, there were over $20,000 in cash awards and door prizes being given out each day. That translates to a massive amount of community support, with nearly 100 sponsors and donors, from presenting sponsors Cemex and Advent Health to the Methodist church itself, which prepared all the food. Food ministry director Dallis Wehr reports that the food prep took all day Friday and all day Sunday. Uncle Matt’s Organic supplied orange juice and an orange/elderberry juice mix. The Lake Sheriff’s Office will be presenting multiple classroom demonstrations of exactly how to process a crime scene. Three lucky schools, Groveland Elementary (Monday), Windy Hill Middle and South Lake High, all received $2,000 grants to use in any way they saw fit.
Rob McCue, the principal of Wesley Christian Academy housed at the Clermont Methodist church, has a unique relationship with the teacher appreciation event. He has been to all of them except the very first one and maybe the second one. Before the breakfasts were held at the church they were held at South Lake High School. and before that at Jenkins Auditorium, which was torn down several years ago.
Speaking of the teachers, McCue said “It’s so important for them to get to see the support the community gives. I don’t know another community that does this.”
School superintendent Diane Kornegay said something similar on Monday when she told the teachers “When this town says they love you, they mean it.”
Lake Minneola High band director Brantley West was at his first South Lake Teacher Appreciation breakfast. He’s the one who brought a drum line. Before the event, he said that he and his students were “trying to celebrate Mama Hawk. Our principal is retiring this year. We want to make noise for her.”
Afterward his take was “All the teachers are passionate about teaching — it was heartwarming to see.”
Mama Hawk (Mrs. Linda Shepherd-Miller) did get a special award on Tuesday. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes gave her a grill
