Educators come from all walks of life and backgrounds—something that members of the Portuguese-American community saw firsthand recently in Hartford.
On Sunday, June 11, Portuguese-American educators from around Connecticut marched in a parade that was part of the weekend-long Dia de Portugal Hartford Festival.
“Newly graduated teachers and retired teachers walked alongside current educators from many districts across the state,” says Jennifer Rodriguez, a first grade teacher at Anna M. Reynolds School in Newington.
United in their love of the profession and their pride in their Portuguese heritage, teachers wore #RedforEd while carrying flags and banners calling for respect for the profession while reminding onlookers that, because of a teacher, every profession is possible.
Rodriguez says that, as teachers walked the route they heard time and time again how surprised spectators were at the number of educators there are in the Portuguese community. “It sparked positive conversations promoting the profession.”
