Community Champion: Suzy Escue
It’s time to recognize a Community Champion, an honor given to people making a positive impact in the community in partnership with Leaders Credit Union.
We introduce you to Suzy Escue, a woman helping the community say ‘thank you’ to teachers and school employees for their hard work.
“You have to give back. You have to make the world a better place,” said Escue.
Every year, before a new school year starts, every member of the faculty and staff in the Milan Special School District receives a gift. It’s part of Milan’s ‘Adopt-A-Teacher’ program and the organization is led by Escue.
“Milan’s Adopt-A-Teacher is a one-time event that we do in July before the teachers go back to school. Everybody in the community adopts a teacher or a staff member and then we, a group of us, go together on Adoption Day and deliver all the gifts to each school and to central office. So it’s an exciting day,” said Escue.
Adopt-A-Teacher began during Covid in 2020 as a way to say ‘thank you’ to local teachers.
“My friend, Kristi Rushing had the idea to start this. So I kind of just tagged along with her. And she did it for the first couple years and then she ended up getting a full time job at the high school. So, I took it over and I’ve been doing it ever since,” said Escue.
Escue says as the years have passed the program has gotten bigger and bigger.
“Every teacher, every bus driver, every custodian, cafeteria worker, substitute coach, assistant principal, office staff, they all get adopted,” said Escue.
She shares why it was important to show their appreciation for all 400 plus staff members in the Milan Special School District.
“Every one of those people makes the school system what it is today because Milan’s a great school district, and they work so hard, and they need to be recognized too,” said Escue.
The gifts vary from person to person, ranging from gift cards, school supplies and personalized items. Every year they work hard to keep the Adopt-A-Teacher details a secret from school employees.
In July, she creates a private Facebook group with a list of every staff member and a set of rules on how to adopt a teacher. Then, to collect the gifts, they set up three dates for drop-offs.
“I hope we can continue the adopt a teacher every year. I enjoy doing it. It takes up a lot of time. But it’s worth it. It’s worth it,” said Escue.
Escue says when you see a need in your community, its important to do something.
“And it’s important to let them know that we do care about them. And it’s a hard time in education right now. So we have to let them know that we actually — we care,” said Escue.
If you know someone doing good in their community, you can nominate them for the Community Champion award by clicking here.
For more local news, click here.
