Lambda Eta Zeta Chapter serves teachers lunch and appreciation
May 5—LUMBERTON — The teachers and staff of W.H. Knuckles Elementary School were showered with gratitude Tuesday — day two of Teacher Appreciation Week.
The gratitude was shown by the ladies of the Lambda Eta Zeta Chapter of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., who provided a lunch catered by Patterson's Steak and Grill to the school's employees, thanking each of them as they served them personally. Sixty employees received a plate containing chicken, potato salad, a roll and beverage, said Sharon Scott, sorority president.
"I'm just tremendously excited about what we're able to do today to honor these teachers and faculty at Knuckles Elementary School," Scott said. "We wanted to do something different, that we never done before, and we just felt like the teachers could just really use a home-cooked meal and just sit down and enjoy lunch together because this is their special day."
The lunch is one of many service activities the sorority has undertaken for the school since adopting it. Over the years, the sorority has provided coats for the winter, hosted ice cream parties, tutored and read to students, and, most recently, provided Google chrome books during the pandemic.
"Any way we can show support to the students and to the staff and faculty, that's what we desire to do," Scott said.
Second-grade teacher Eyic Jones said the sorority has been longtime supporters of the school, and Tuesday's lunch was no different.
"They're about sisterhood and helping the community," Jones said. "Any event they have, they always look out for the students."
Sorority member Lisa Troy was probably the most appreciative of the teachers at Knuckles because she also is the school principal. She said this year's Teacher Appreciation Week came at the right time considering the past 12 months the school has endured.
"Especially during the challenging year we've had because of the pandemic, it just does my heart good to know that the sorority will support the school," Troy said. "It's amazing to give back to them (teachers) this time of the year.
Troy described her school team as "resilient."
"Over the past four or five years they've been through hurricanes, consolidation of schools and now a pandemic, and so being able to convert to in-person learning and remote learning has been a challenge, but they stayed the course, and any obstacle that has come their way, they've worked hard to overcome," Troy said.
The principal credits the school's accomplishments to the teachers, students and parents all working hand-in-hand.
Tammara Abernathy-Jones, who serves as chair of the Adopt-A-School Committee of the sorority alongside Joyce Jones, said it was a stroke of luck that the food truck was only available during Teacher Appreciation Week.
"I thought is was sort of a spiritual intervention that this happened," Abernathy-Jones said.
Giving back to the school also hits close to home for Abernathy-Jones, who is the granddaughter of W.H. Knuckles, the school's namesake.
"It gives me a lot of pride to be here and support this school," she said. "It's a personal joy for me."
Tomeka Sinclair can be reached at [email protected] or 910-416-5865.
