Mathews County Public Schools welcomed back its teachers and support personnel at the division’s annual Opening Day Convocation, which was held last Thursday in the Mathews High School auditorium.

As assistant superintendent Nancy Welch pointed out, the teachers, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and others all congregated in the back of the auditorium, just like the division’s 1,177 students will likely do when they return to class on Tuesday.

Most of the division’s 209 full- and part-time employees attended the annual program, which concluded with a catered Chick-fil-A lunch provided by the Mathews PTAs.

Welch spoke about the "amazing things (that) have happened over the past few months," from personal milestones in the lives of employees such as births, to the division’s second annual summer STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) academy, which was fully funded by grants.

Speaking of grant opportunities, Welch told the audience about t...