The words in the title are not my words.
As I was making my way home from a loooong day that was a combination of my 5th grade babies and my hour stint as a Read Aloud volunteer, I was listening to the radio station, winding down from a day of all children, all the time.
The question being asked of callers was, "Which teacher would you like to thank, and why?" According to the host, the lines were lit up ever since the question was asked. Caller after caller, named a teacher that was near and dear to them. That teacher they never forgot, could never forget.
It seemed that their responses shared a common theme. Surprisingly, not one of them said that they remembered the teacher that got them to pass a standardized test. :)
I listened to callers talk about teachers. A teacher who "took them from nothing to something." The teacher that was "strict, but showed them mother-love", the multitude of teachers that would not give up on a child, even if giving up seemed to make the most sense. You could tell from the passion in their voices, that these teachers they spoke of, were not in it for summer vacation, days off, or benefits, they were in it for those kids.
It just seems that in order to make that kind of impression on a person...you know teachers have the ability to do just that.
In order to make that kind of impression on a person...these were not children calling in, these were adults.
In order to make that kind of impression on a person...where they remember not only the grade, but your full name, you had to mean something, you had to do something that stuck.
You were so much more than a teacher, you were what connected them to wherever they were headed.
I am fortunate to have taught so many years, and to be on the receiving end of visits and/or emails from former students. What a wonderful feeling to know you have touched someone's life so deeply.
I know we all don't take a child "from nothing to something.", but we make a difference. We care, we love, we matter.
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