The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many annual events to be cancelled. The Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce (GRCC) didn’t want to cancel its yearly Teaching to Excellence event, so the GRCC reimagined it and made it virtual.
“The purpose of GRCC’s annual Teaching to Excellence event is to warmly welcome Riverview schools’ new teachers and celebrate them on a community level,” said GRCC Event Coordinator Gabby Morford. “The event recognizes each of these schools’ Teacher of the Year. The Teaching to Excellence event began as a vision of the late Dr. Earl Lennard, a fundamental figure in education for Hillsborough County. Lennard was born in Riverview and dedicated his career to making a difference in schools.”
This year’s event was held virtually from August 3-21 on the Teaching to Excellence Facebook page. Each Riverview school was adopted or supplied by one of Riverview’s community partners through the chamber’s Adopt-A-School program.
Sponsors had a chance to choose which school they wanted to adopt and then they went out and bought supplies for the teachers of their assigned school.
“The main challenge we had planning this year’s event was pivoting to a virtual setting and brainstorming the best way to successfully recognize the schools and teachers as we have done in previous years,” said GRCC Executive Director Tanya Doran.
Due to the generous support of the Riverview community partners, sponsors and donors, GRCC was able to support 28 local Riverview schools with school supplies for this school year.
“The schools we support through our Teaching to Excellence event are the public and charter schools of Riverview that have been open at least one year,” Doran said. “The Teachers of the Year are chosen by each respective school and we provide the teachers with a plaque to celebrate their achievement. This event was truly a community effort to recognize all 28 of our local Riverview schools.”
To learn more about the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce or if you would like to become a member of the chamber, visit www.riverviewchamber.com or call 234-5944. The chamber is located at 10101 Bloomingdale Ave. in Riverview.
