’It’s emotional’: Teachers form caravan to drive-by students’ homes to say hello

TEGA CAY, S.C. — With schools out, students have been studying from home, away from their teachers. But as Channel 9's Phil Orban found out, some of those teachers were still able to check in on their students one more time.

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As area schools face an uncertain future -- North Carolina public schools are closed until mid-May while schools in South Carolina are closed until the end of April -- elementary students and their parents in Tega Cay found a unique way to say hello -- and perhaps goodbye.

For three hours Monday, parents stood in the rain with their children as teachers and administrators from Gold Hill Elementary drove by in a parade to greet their students.

There were similar parades from Waxhaw Elementary and elsewhere around the Carolinas.

This has been an emotional time for teachers, especially in kindergarten, where special bonds are formed with young children. The teachers never got a chance to say goodbye, leaving school on a Friday, with many school closures coming two days later.

“Just heartbreaking because you didn’t prepare ourselves,” said Joy Wilson, a kindergarten teacher at Gold Hill. “You prepare yourself for summer vacation, but you haven’t hugged your babies and things like that. You haven’t done your special goodbyes, and now who knows if we’re going to see them for the remainder of the year?”

As of now, schools are scheduled to reopen before the end of the year, so there may yet be a chance for those hugs and special goodbyes. But Monday was still emotional, with tears shed by both parents and teachers.

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