AJ Ocampo knew the struggles teachers were enduring with the pandemic and distance learning, so Ocampo decided to found SoftServeSmiles to bring a smile to a teacher’s face, one soft serve at a time. On Oct. 21, Downey High School faculty and friends were treated with both soft serve and smiles. “I started this project because I know how much teachers put into their job and with the transition to online learning it’s been extra difficult,” Ocampo said. “I know it’s hard for students so I can’t imagine how it is for teachers so I wanted to find a way to say thank you, and hey who doesn’t like ice cream?!”