EDITORIAL: Teachers — thank you for all that you do

Published 1:00 pm Friday, May 8, 2020

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. 

If there ever was a time when we appreciated the value of teachers, this is quite possibly it. 

The coronavirus pandemic was declared back in March, shifting teachers and their students out of the classroom and into digital learning. 

This new normal is not ideal, but teachers, parents and students have made the best of it.

Teachers didn’t know back then that it would be the last time they would have their students in their classrooms during the 2019-2020 term. While much of the focus has been on how students are making the transition to online learning, and rightfully so, the dedicated teachers who answer the call have felt the impact as well. 

They miss their students because teaching is not only what they do — it’s also a part of who they are. Teaching is more than just a job or career. Many teachers see teaching as their calling, their purpose in life. They truly love their students, and one of the most thrilling, fulfilling parts of teaching is following a student’s success long after they leave a teacher’s classroom.

Think of the varied components that might make up a “good teacher,” a concept that is difficult to define and assess: courage, creativity, caring, growth-seeking, passion, high expectations, respect for diversity, willingness to experiment and collaborate and scores of other possible traits. They’ve all certainly come into play these past several weeks in ways none of us could have ever imagined. 

Strong and effective teachers are educators — what they pass on to their students forms a lasting impression that goes well beyond the 180 days or so they share with them in a classroom one year out of their lives.

Their impact, however, lasts a lifetime, well on into the path to adulthood where students can apply the education they’ve gained and the sum of all its parts.

Educators provide the spark that allows students to overcome those hurdles each day, and for that, we owe them a tremendous level of gratitude. 

We won’t soon forget this COVID quarantine education time and hopefully, when we re-establish a sense of normalcy, we will all commit to staying more engaged with our teachers moving forward as classes resume inside school buildings and parents get back to their routines.

In the meantime — thank you. 

Thank you for wearing too many hats to count — mentor, coach, counselor, listening ear and so much more. 

Thank you for the countless hours and the worry and concern over children who aren’t your own.

Thank you for answering the call to shape and mold the minds of our young people and prepare them for their futures. 

Most of all, thank you for stepping up during this time of uncertainty to reassure our children and provide a sense of normalcy when so much around them is no longer so. 

Thank you for all that you do.