Teachers have wish lists that go beyond what’s normally outfitted in their classrooms, but this year those lists need extra attention.

Berthoud resident Andrea Sutton, the founder of Berthoud Schools Adopt-a-Teacher Program, came up with a way to get the wishes filled during the challenging times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and district-wide remote learning. She created a Facebook group to encourage community members to donate school supplies or “just a fun surprise” to teachers and staff members at Berthoud High School, Turner Middle School, Ivy Stockwell Elementary and Berthoud Elementary as they head into the 2020-21 school year.

“It’s anything they ask for, anything they say they may like or need,” said Sutton, a concerned parent who wants to support Berthoud schools, teachers, staff members and students. “It’s anything a person just wants to bless a particular teacher with.”

The Adopt-a-Teacher launched  Sept. 1, giving teachers and staff members a place to post their wish lists, needs and wants, or even something that brings them joy. Community members can respond by adopting the teacher, purchasing the desired item and sending it directly to the teacher’s mailing address (if provided), to their school, or they can send it through Amazon Wish Lists. At Berthoud Elementary, the Parent Teacher Association created an Amazon Wish List, so that donations can be sent to the school and then passed on to the teachers.

The Adopt-a-Teacher Program allows teachers and staff to post their Wish List, filled with any needs, wants or likes. Then community members can “adopt” them and send in gifts now and throughout the year. More than one community member can adopt someone, we just want to make sure ALL teachers and staff within our community are shown some appreciation. Teachers and staff members can make an Amazon Wish List so items can easily be sent to them OR just create a post and which school they work at.

“Adopt-a-Teacher will allow the community to show our teachers that they are not alone, we have their backs, and we want to help,” as described in one of the announcements on the page. “Nobody is more stressed than our teachers. This year might be one of the hardest years of their careers.”

So far, about 40 members have signed up to join the Facebook group. Teachers and staff members can submit their posts to the group, or someone can do so on their behalf. They are asked to share their name, grade level, position, school site and anything else they would like to include, such as how long they’ve been teaching and working for the school district.

“We need to support our teachers and staff and show them they are valued and appreciated,” Sutton said. “It shows them we see them and all of the hard work they do, all of the effort they put in this summer to make online virtual learning better for their students.”

Sutton came up with the idea after learning about similar Facebook groups for the schools in Erie in the St. Vrain Valley School District and the Tri-Town area of Frederick, Firestone and Dacono.

“Every teacher and support staff that posted was adopted and loved on by people from within the community. As a group, they brought them individually wrapped, store-bought cookies on the first day of school, with notes of appreciation,” Sutton said about the Erie group.

Sutton posted in the Berthoud group that she wants to order T-shirts for Berthoud teachers and staff members with this saying, “Teacher Strong, I Can Do Virtually Anything.” She has an offer for the T-shirts to be donated at Ivy Stockwell and estimates that we will need about 200 T-shirts total, for all four schools. She still is waiting on counts and lists of employees, from the principals of each school

For more information about the Berthoud Schools Adopt-a-Teacher’s Facebook group, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/berthoudadoptateacher with questions or to order a t-shirt.