LAURINBURG — Staff at the A.B. Gibson Building got out of the office Wednesday afternoon as part of Educator Appreciation Week.
More than 15 members of the Central Office staff, along with Laurinburg Police Chief Darwin “Duke” Williams, put on their walking shoes for Wellness Wednesday, which was a brief walk around downtown Laurinburg.
“I think it’s very important that we have celebrations at our weekly meetings and at any chance we get to celebrate our staff because they work so hard,” said Superintendent Takeda LeGrand. “But having an actual week to make sure we are intentional on those efforts and we invite the community to celebrate our hard-working team members is essential.
“People want to be recognized for their talents and their skill-set and it’s important we continue to do that regularly… so where people spend their time is important to them and we want to make sure they understand we recognize that and they’re important to us and we appreciate them giving their time and talents to Scotland County Schools,” she added.
The Educator Appreciation Week is running in conjunction with Teacher Appreciation Week for the central office staff and was put together by the administrative assistants in the building. On Monday there was breakfast, on Tuesday a lunch, Thursday is set to be a dessert day and Friday finishes off with meditation or relaxation Friday.
“When you think about health and wellness we do know that exercise is good for physical health and we know exercise is good for cognitive health,” LeGrand said. “We also know it’s good for mental health so I would have to say this walk is good for overall health activity and it may have addressed one of the areas of health that we often don’t talk about or we’re not intentional in. So I’m proud to say this walk was intentional to make sure that we not only address all the areas of health but we also focus on the need for people to get the benefit of exercise that can sometimes come with the stressors at work or at home.”
LeGrand added she was glad to be able to walk with those who wanted to get out of the office and were able to do the walk.
“A lot of the team here said they like getting out at lunchtime and walking together as a group,” LeGrand said. “So this could be something we’ll continue to do, we may just do 15-minute brisk walks on Wednesday at noon. So if you see us downtown feel free to join us, honk the horn or wave.”
Reach Katelin Gandee at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com. To support The Laurinburg Exchange, subscribe here: https://laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com/subscribe.