Teachers from Val Vista Lakes Elementary in Gilbert paraded through the neighborhood in their cars on Monday morning to reinvigorate school spirit as students stay home amid the coronavirus pandemic. Arizona schools are closed until at least April 10.

The elementary school posted a map with the expected route on Sunday and encouraged families and students to wave from their driveways as teachers drove by on Monday.

About 20 cars filled with teachers and their families drove throughout the neighborhood on the sunny Monday morning, honking their horns as they passed groups of familiar faces.

Students stood on the sidewalks shouting greetings and waving signs with sayings like "We love and miss you" and "See you later alligator."

Each truck, van or SUV that passed was decorated with the teacher's name and streamers or signs with messages like "Bee kind," "Keep reading" and "Vikings Rule."

Parent says kindergartner was 'frozen' with excitement

Parents said the parade meant a lot to their young kids, many of whom have been missing their school community.

“My kids were very excited to see their teachers to the point that my kindergartner was a little bit frozen” to finally see her teacher drive by, Kenneth Castillo said. "This is new to all of us, and they've been missing school."

Stephanie Brooks has three kids at the school. She said they were "super excited" to see their teachers and loved the candy thrown from cars, the signs and the inflatable animals, including at least one dragon and two unicorns.

"They definitely went all-out with decorating their cars, and it was more than I expected it would be," Brooks said.

For Nicole Terry, it was a long wait with her preschooler as teachers wound through the neighborhood before finally driving by her condo near the school around an hour and a half later.

She said her son started to think maybe the teachers weren't coming, but eventually, they heard honking horns and saw all his teachers approach — from his classroom teacher to his speech therapist and psychologist.

He was "glowing" as he saw his main teacher, Terry said, and he even started following their car. He's had trouble understanding why he hasn't been going to school, Terry said, so seeing his teachers helped a great deal.

The parade reached many — even an elderly neighborhood resident opened her garage to stand with her walker and wave to the passing teachers. The parade's grand finale was a boy playing drums while being pulled on the bed of a trailer.

“We just all want to say thank you to the Val Vista Elementary community from staff to teachers to administration," Castillo said. "This was beautiful. It was really beautiful and touching and they really care and we love them for that."

Principal: Not seeing our kids 'kind of hurts'

Tami Richeson, a sixth grade teacher and co-organizer of the parade, said it took her 5 to 6 hours to map out the route, but it was worth it.

"This just unites us," Richeson said. "As isolated as we may feel inside of our homes, and with technology — we're all FaceTiming — but I think this gives the person-to-person aspect as far as we're all in this together."

Even Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman chimed in to support after seeing a video of the parade, applauding the school on Twitter for "finding such creative ways to stay connected. #ClosedNotClosed."

Patrick Miller, the principal at Val Vista Lakes Elementary, emphasized the importance of the students and staff needing to see each other face-to-face.

"This thing we're going through now kind of hurts," Miller said. "They would love to just come back, but at the same time they know there's safety issues, and so we know it's for a good reason. It's just hard because we're used to connecting one-to-one."

Alison Steinbach and Chelsea Hofmann both reported on this story. Reach Hofmann at Chelsea.Hofmann@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @chofmann528, and reach Steinbach at Alison.Steinbach@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @alisteinbach.