Why We Appreciate Our Teachers: an open letter of thanks

I dropped this letter off with a plate of cookies in the staff lounge today at my kids' school. Admittedly, it's the very least I could do to show my appreciation, but I really hope that educators everywhere realize that even if they don't hear it every day, or every week, they are deeply, deeply appreciated by the parents whose children they educate.

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To all the teachers, aides, staff, custodians, food service workers, playground supervisors, social workers, nurses, psychologists, speech therapists, and administrators who make our school such a wonderful place to learn:

We appreciate you!

For every time you get the feeling someone thinks that you’re not doing enough for their child, know there’s someone out there who knows you’re doing way more than you have to.

For every comment you hear about teachers’ jobs being “easy,” know there’s someone out there who is thankful every single day that we have such qualified educators in Sun Prairie schools doing the impossible work that is educating every unique child.  Just the idea of homeschooling makes me feel panicky. We could never do what you do. 

For every article or comment you see about Wisconsin’s “failing schools” and “unqualified teachers,” know that there are parents of the kids YOU teach, fighting to defend you, and our excellent schools.

• We appreciate every hour you spend away from your own families to work for our kids. We appreciate all the days you stay late, or come in early, and all the nights you miss your favorite shows because you’re grading homework.
• We appreciate every hour you spend in meetings, planning and discussing and preparing and assessing. We appreciate your expertise and the education and training that makes you singularly qualified to do what you do.
• We appreciate your willingness to put up with all of our questions, concerns, emails, calls, and your amazing ability to deal with every parent – from the hovering helicopters to those you never see.
• We appreciate every hour you spend making sure our kids make sense of things even we don’t understand (hello? multiplication lattices?) to our kids.
• We appreciate every cup of morning coffee you miss, every bathroom break you don’t get, every rushed step you take to meet the demands of your days.
• We appreciate the care you take to make sure our kids know their value is more than a test score. We appreciate every tear you spare them by not heaping pressure on them, even while you have to worry about how those scores will affect your own evaluations.
• We appreciate the time you take to talk to our kids, and get to know them – in the cafeteria, on the playground, at the drinking fountain, in the specials classes, at the office.  We appreciate the sense of family and community this creates for our own kids, and especially those who may not have those connections outside of school.
• We appreciate the personality, the joy, and the love you bring into the school. 
• We appreciate the example you set for our children of the value of education, of being safe, respectful, and responsible.  These lessons are sinking in. We see it at home every day.

Thank you!  For every single thing you do.
It might seem like it goes unnoticed, but it’s never unappreciated.

With love from a CH Bird family

P.S. While we agree that EVERY week should be “Teacher Appreciation Week,” think of it this way:  mothers and fathers only get ONE day a year.  You get five.  That means you’re five times more important than parents.  Something to keep in mind after a rough day of conferences.