Teacher Support and Appreciation Through Inspiring Spaces
Rock Hill Schools awards three teachers each year with fully-renovated classrooms with a donor-funded program. Through this program, the district has seen an increase in teacher retention, climate and culture.
Overview
Each year we solicit students, alumni and families to share stories of their most inspiring teachers. We select three teachers to receive complete classroom makeovers from floor to ceiling. They’re able to ask for any and everything they want to make their room a dream for teaching.
Recognition
Not only are we able to pour love into the classrooms we renovate, we are also able to keep the positive vibes going all year long. The marketing and communications team uses the nominations from students, families or alumni to create teacher shout outs throughout the year to be posted on social media. The teachers don’t know when theirs is coming so it gives them a surprise boost of love and support from the community, publicly. We post one shout out each week highlighting why the teacher is special and inspiring.
The “Secret Sauce”
- Promote the program far and wide to get a cache of nominations.
- Partner with community organizations and vendors to pay for the program so it doesn’t cost the district anything.
- Divide the nominations between school levels – one pool for elementary, one for middle and one for high.
- Encourage teachers to dream BIG and overdeliver on the renovation.
- Tuck a surprise into the renovation that is personalized to that particular teacher. Talk to friends, colleagues or their family to help get an idea of what might be meaningful that they didn’t ask for.
Going Deeper
Examples:
Reveal Day 2024: watch video here
Teacher Announcements 2024: watch video here
Reveal Day 2023: watch video here
Teacher Announcements 2023: watch video here


Have Questions?
Contact Lindsay Machak, Executive Director of Communications and Marketing, Rock Hill SchoolsEmail: