Paul Morigi/Getty Images, Greg Allen/Invision/AP/ShutterstockCarrie Underwood gave a shout-out to teachers during Wednesday's airing of "CMT Celebrates Our Heroes: An Artists of the Year Special."
The virtual event paid tribute to frontline workers and leaders amid the coronavirus pandemic, including those in the following categories: healthcare, education, community and neighbors, food industry, American ingenuity, infrastructure, first responders and U.S. military.
At one point, Underwood said she wanted to "give credit to a group of people who are often underappreciated during the best of times—teachers and educators." The 37-year-old singer explained she has "a special place" in her heart for this particular group, noting that her sisters are teachers and that her mother is a retired teacher, as well.
"Now, more than ever, we recognize what an important and difficult job they have," the "Cry Pretty" star said. "Like all of us, teachers around the country had to adapt to this pandemic with very little warning. Imagine, a job that's all about planning and preparation suddenly became all about adapting on the fly and coming up with new and creative solutions to keep our children's education on track from a distance. There was no playbook for this. There was no lesson plan for teaching kids entirely through a computer."
Underwood then shared a few "shining examples of the kinds of education heroes in our communities across this country."
She wasn't the only celebrity to honor educators. Reba McEntire and Thomas Rhett did, as well. For instance, the 30-year-old "Make Me Wanna" artist recognized his daughters' teachers before performing "Be a Light."
Brandi Carlile, Brothers Osborne, Darius Rucker, Florida Georgia Line, Kane Brown, Kelsea Ballerini, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Sam Hunt, Tim McGraw, Bobby Bones, Cody Alan, Gary Sinise, Jake Owen, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban, Kristen Bell, Lauren Daigle, Lee Brice, Olivia Munn, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Penn and Zac Brown all made virtual appearances, as well and spotlighted work in the other categories.