Teacher Appreciation Week

"Teaching, the one profession that makes all other professions possible."

Having been a classroom teacher for ten years, I can tell you it is a physically draining and emotionally taxing vocation. At the end of a day with students that have all different abilities, learning styles, and interests, are evenings correcting student work and preparing for the next sequence of lessons.

Most teachers do not do this job for the pay, benefits or recognition. Rather, they do it because it offers them the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children. Recently, government officials and some members of the public have been very vocal in criticizing teachers. I think this is truly unfortunate. What value could you really put on the contributions to our future that a great teacher makes? Should they be paid equal to what a rock star, professional athlete or movie actor make? This will never happen.

Great teachers know this and never expect to receive that level of compensation. They may even be uncomfortable being singled out for recognition from others. However, they deserve to be positively recognized for the efforts they make on a daily basis. As this week is teacher appreciation week, it is an opportunity for providing much deserved thanks.

Yet, I have often wondered why we limit our appreciation to a single week. Perhaps it is because we forget, or we have no vehicle to express our gratitude. I am proposing a solution to these problems. First, I will be placing cards in each front office that anyone may complete. This card will provide everyone with the opportunity to write a positive comment about something one of our staff members has done. These cards will be collected and then posted on a bulletin board in each faculty lounge. Once each trimester, we will hold a lottery drawing to select one of these cards. That teacher will be provided with a special gift donated by the school administration.

I will be putting these cards in each front office by May 17th. We will collect them for the remainder of this school year. At our first day back for staff, I will hold the drawing near the end of our full staff meeting. I hope you will accept my offer to provide our staff with much deserved appreciation all year round.