Thank you, Teachers

My friend Becky posted this video to Facebook, and I was so moved I had to post it here.

Teachers in this country get a bad deal all around. The joy and smile of a child can only carry you so far. Sure, the sense of accomplishment is priceless, but that kid’s warm fuzzies won’t pay the rent. I happen to carry an extraordinarily large soft spot for teachers. I see firsthand the magic they whirl in the classroom. I see how they spend money from their own paltry paychecks to buy supplies, winter coats and socks for kids in their class, and weekend meals for children whose only meals come during the school day. Teachers are a special breed. Talk about a selfless profession that is not driven by greed and hubris (unless Art Pope is involved). This is a profession that balances equal parts brain and heart.

In my years of school I had some pretty crumby teachers. My sixth grade band teacher, when I told him I wanted to play the drums, said, “Girls don’t play drums. Pick something else.” Yeah, he sucked. I picked the trombone, daring him to tell me no twice.

I had many math teachers roll their eyes at my lackluster math skills. I think they were absolutely blown away that A) my older brother, who had been in their class, rocked the math world, and B) an Indian was bad at math. It took many years for me to understand intrinsic value. I read numbers as if they were letters, thinking 1+1 = 11.

My first grade teacher chided me in front of the class when I told her I wanted to be President when I grew up. She singled me out and in a most mean spirited fashion, quipped, “You weren’t born here. Pick something else.”

I had teachers throughout the years who failed to see my promise as I failed to thrive in their classes. Teachers are only human, and we don’t all magically click in a student-teacher relationship. I was always a good student, albeit one whose report card stated “talks too much in class” every single semester for 12 years. True story. Bird is the apple who didn’t fall far from my tree. I experienced my share of lazy, mean, uninspired, complacent, tired, and plain spent teachers. I imagine they experienced their share of disrespectful, lazy, entitled, rotten, spoiled, tired students.

But more importantly, I experienced some teachers who made me go all Melvin Udall. Teachers like Mr. Brodie, Ms. Kovatch, Mdme. Pealer, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Larrick, Mr. Lee, Ms. Smith. All these years later, I am so thankful for the ways they touched my life. I can still conjugate Latin verbs, recite the opening lines to Canterbury Tales, actually get through Jane Austen without falling asleep, and remember how to multiply fractions because of those men and women who dedicated their lives to making men and women out of incorrigible boys and girls.

And now, my sons, in their few shorts years in the education system, have had some fantastic teachers. Bird and Deal have each experienced top notch teaching, making their formative years pretty damn great. These are the years that shape their attitudes toward school, learning, curiosity. They both have teachers whom I would seat at the head of the dining room table for dinner at my house. We look to these women with such gratitude yet feel a sense of overwhelming discouragement that we cannot possibly repay them for what they have given our sons.

So during Teacher Appreciation Week, I raise a glass to the teachers who left indelible marks on our brains and in our hearts. I am so thankful that you do what you do. My wish is to create a system in this country that values your service as much as I do. Please read this article in the New York Times that sums up my thoughts. The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries indeed.

I seethe to think how we as a nation have failed our teachers, our schools, our students.

Have you thanked a teacher today?