Hearts, flowers, heroes and love notes filled the doorways of The Loyola School throughout February.
The school’s first Valentine’s Day Door-Decorating Challenge for Teachers brightened doors and created excitement around the school. With the theme of “Heart-Shaped Appreciation,” the contest invited all teachers to decorate their classroom doors celebrating the February holidays. The entries competed in three categories: Most Creative Use of Student Artwork, Most Heartfelt Message and Best Overall. Voters viewed and voted for the entries on Facebook over three days. Many teachers incorporated Black History Month, another February observance, into their creations.
The PreK-2 classrooms took home the prizes, winning in all three categories.
Ms. Imani and Ms. Lesly won both Most Creative and Best Overall honors for their colorful door: “You Matter Every Month.” A heart below the main image carries the message: The Legacy of Black Innovation, amid hearts and student artwork depicting some of those innovations.
The other PreK-2 class, led by Ms. Ivonna and Ms. Fathima, won the “Most Heartfelt Message” award for “Love Is In the Air” featuring a basket of children being lifted by a balloon of hearts and an array of students’ pictures with messages such as “Thank You for Paving the Way for our Educational Future.”
Executive coordinator Ms. Delon received Honorary Mention for her bulletin board in the main office, “We Love Black History Month.” Class photos surround a tree of pink hearts with a border of little hands.
The winners received prizes related to teaching and education, and they enjoyed plenty of help from their students opening the gift packages. All participants received a gift too.
The first-ever door decorating challenge was the creation of Advancement Department staff Lauren Crostic and Janine Gibson. They planned the friendly competition, organized the online voting, selected prizes and handled many other details
“The teachers and students are the heart of this school, and we wanted to share their joy with everyone, especially our scholarship sponsors,” Lauren Crostic said
Judging by this year’s success and enthusiasm, the contest will be back next February.
–Mary Maushard
