Teacher appreciation

 This week we celebrate all that teachers do. As a professor, I often get emails or social media messages thanking me for being a guiding force in someone's life but this week, this is the week for the real heroes. Primary and secondary school teachers are truly amazing beings. As a parent, I got a tiny taste of what they must do during the pandemic and I can say, unequivocally, they are just built differently. Their hearts, their minds, their desire to literally educate the world, y'all they do it all. 

I know that none of us have been sheltered from the reality that teachers are being faced with daily, especially with gun violence on the rise. I cannot tell you how much my mama's heart breaks when I send my kids out the door each and every day. The thing that keeps me from completely jumping out of my skin, I know that Mrs. Trawick/Mrs. Haggins, Ms. Hernandez, Mrs. Neff, Ms. Grierson, Mrs. Stewart, Mr. Stevenson, and Ms. Juarez are looking out for my babies every day. I know that Miss Courtney and Ms. Stacy make sure the littlest PK is safe (even if he is a bit clumsy and tends to find his head meeting poles and tables more often than I'd like). I have no doubt that if something or someone came with the intent to harm any of the children in their care, they'd do everything to make sure they were safe. 

The teachers that they've had up to this point would do the same. And they fill up their Stanleys, fill their lunchboxes, and say a prayer each day that they make it back to their families too. 

I'm so grateful for all the teachers in my life. My uncle was a kindergarten teacher for 40 years. He loved his kids with all his heart and made sure that each and every kid that came through his classroom knew that they were valued and important. He was always one of the first to tell me he was proud of me and that education would take me places that nothing else could. He gave me books and later money to buy books. He was a hero to many a kid on the North side of Albuquerque, NM. 

As I think back to the teachers that formed me, Mrs. Carlot and Mr. Wick showed me that my options were limitless and took the time to love on a kid whose world was in chaos. They took time, every day, to make sure the kids that came in and out of their classrooms were told, at least once a day, that they made someone proud. 30 plus years, later, that still sticks with me. 

This week I will send my kids with small tokens of appreciation for the thankless work that these professionals do. They deserve so much more. They deserve a living wage. They deserve legislation that protects them. They deserve appreciation because THEY EDUCATE THE WORLD. So if no one else tells y'all, I appreciate you. You make a difference every day. You are someone's somebody. Thank you!