National Teacher Appreciation Day

I think its pretty well orchestrated how Mother's Day & Teacher Appreciation Week are technically right on top of each other.

Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day.

I'm not going to type word after word about how hard teachers work and how the government treats them like second rate citizens.  That's not for an appreciation talk.  That's for policy talk.  I'm going to set that aside today.

Today I'm going to blog about the real importance of a GOOD teacher.

The keyword is GOOD.

I personally think that good teachers are few and far between these days.  I mean its no wonder.  If we do look at the pay grade and respect level they receive then it isn't shocking good teachers are becoming harder and harder to locate.

But here's the deal....they do still exist.  I have faith that they do.

Teachers serve many roles.  Not only do they master the subjects they teach but they also, for so many hours a day, morph into another role.  Many of them become a mother (or father) figure to the students in their class.  They become an adult who is admired and respected and loved.  

Especially in elementary school.

We live in a world where mommies and daddies can walk away from their babies with such ease.  They can really not care at all.  Some parents will place other people, things, places above their children.  It happens in every single social caste - lower, middle, upper....kids are put on the back burner.

That's where the GOOD teacher comes in.

A good teacher sees what is happening.

A good teacher is aware of the affect in the child's life.

A good teacher doesn't ignore that child or children.



Sometimes the only positive in a little person's world of negative is the lady or gentleman teaching long division.  The person reading them the chapter book before lunch.  The science teacher giving them the extra help before the exam.  The second grade teacher that brought them new tennis shoes and a pair of pants because she saw no one else was going to attend to their basic needs.

Good teachers are so much more than curriculum followers.  They are lights of hope for the people that will be in charge tomorrow.  They are the link that can make a bad year of growing up better. They are worry and celebrate over those students. They send up little prayers that they will be safe and make wise decisions always.

Good teachers are just like good mamas and daddies.

Worth more than their weight in gold.

Thanks to the good teachers!

Mrs. Daughtry, Mrs. Reynolds, Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Renegar, Mrs. Bagshaw, Mrs. Whaley, Mrs. Kerr, Mrs. Mando, Mr. Chaffin, Mr. Crenshaw, Mrs. Trenchard, Mrs. Dunn, Mrs. Noel, Mr.McCarthy, Mrs. Cartner, Mrs. Ramsbotham, Mr. Donaldson, Mr. Moose, Mrs. Heyman, and every teacher in the Public Health Department at UNC-Greensboro.