For The Teachers

In case no one else tells you this year:

*The work you do is important. What you do? Changes lives. Makes an impact. Carries on far beyond the academic year and into the futures of the children you work with, and gives them something to hold onto.

*The work you do is hard. It's hard, underappreciated, and undervalued. Anyone who tells you that your job is easy or cushy because you "have summers off" or because "you don't have to work weekends" has no idea what s/he is talking about and deserves to be summarily dismissed.

*You are brilliant. You are creative, clever, and caring. You are amazing.

*What you give out -- the stress, the worry, the love of the kids in your classes, the money you spend, the time you put in, the planning, the thought, the effort? It is worth it. It is all worth it. You already know that, though; you know it every time a student gives you that look of "Oh, YES! I GET IT!"

I hope this year is amazing, and all of the years that follow are as well.

And thank you -- thank you for the work you do, the time you take, the hours you put in.

Thank you.