Monday, May 2, 2016

CELEBRATE TEACHERS!

No matter our jobs, careers, titles or the letters at the end of our names-we earned what we are by learning from teachers. Colleagues and friends still leading classrooms, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Every day, but especially during Teacher Appreciation Days, I celebrate you.

Although I have said it before, two of my Teacher Appreciation Day posts share how much I love and support teachers and teaching. In light of all educators do and face, let me reiterate ...

“Teaching creates all other professions,” (Unknown). How true this is! None of us knows how to do everything. That’s why we rely on the knowledge and skills of others.

The air conditioning and heating repairman saves us from sweltering on a sweaty August day or freezing in a single digit December when our home units shudder to a halt.

The chef who creates a sumptuous dinner for us at our favorite restaurant offers us from cooking every night.

The mechanic keeps our cars running.

The doctors and nurses bring us peace of mind and body when we- and those whom we love- are ailing.

Pro-athletes’ knowledge and understanding of their sport thrill us, musicians evoke our emotions and thespians move us from laughter to tears.

We trust that police forces will protect us and fire personnel will save our homes from severe damage.

We rely on those in the intelligence and counterintelligence fields to keep criminals and terrorism at bay.

The military is full of men and women who ensure our country’s safety and keep us strong.

Lifeguards prevent us from downing in bodies of water while pilots and air traffic controllers make guarantee that we don’t fall from the sky.

Those in the field of finance safeguard our money and farmers’ and ranchers’ products fill our larders while writers and artists in all fields creative nourish our minds and spirits.

The list of those who give our lives substance and value is endless, dependant on our wants and needs. How did all of these people learn their craft?  Teachers taught them what they needed to know.

In appreciation for all that teachers can do and choose to do, and do, and do, here is an alphabetic listing of just a few of the people who enable us to enjoy  lives that are healthier, happier, safer and enriched.
Athletes; Air conditioning and Heating service people; Air Traffic Controllers; Artists; Architects; Accountants; Administrative Assistants; Auto Mechanics
Bookeepers; Bakers; Butchers
Chefs; Caterers; Counselors; Clergy; Computer engineers, analysts an programmers; Curriculum designers; Construction managers and workers; Chauffeurs
Doctors; Dentists; Dairy farmers; Dieticians; Database administrators
Engineers; Electricians; Estheticians; Epidemiologists; Exterminators (insects and rodents)
Fire personnel; Financial advisors; Farmers
Geologists; Gynecologists; Geneticists;
Historians; Home designers; House decorators; Hair stylists; Human resources specialist;
Intelligence and counter-intelligence personnel; Internists; Information Security Analysts; Insurance agents
Judges; Journalists; Janitors; Jewelers; Jockeys
Keyboard operators;  Kiln builders and operators; Kitchen supervisors
Lifeguards; Lawyers; Laboratory technicians
Musicians; Military men and women; Mathematicians; Meteorologists; Marketing researchers and analysts; Manicurists; Maintenance workers 
Nurses; Nutritionists
Obstetricians; Ophthalmologists; Opticians; Occupational Therapists
Pilots; Police; Professors; Physicists; Psychologists, Psychiatrists; Physical Therapists; Physician Assistants; Pharmacists; Plumber; Paramedics; Principals
Quality Control personnel; Quilters
Ranchers; Respiratory Therapists; Real Estate agents; Receptionists; Restaurant servers
Software developers; Scientists; Social Workers; Statisticians; Speech Therapists
Thespians; Teachers; Technology specialists; Taxi drivers
Urologists; Underwriters; Upholsters; Utility workers
Veterinarians; Vacuum Cleaner service people; Van drivers
Writers; Web developers
X-Ray Technicians
Yacht designers and builders
Zoologists

And the list goes on, and on and on.

What do all of these professions and careers have in common?  They include people who do what they do because teachers taught them how to read, write, add and subtract, think, analyze, and do.

Jacques Barzun, a French-born American historian, educator and teacher trainer said, “Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition.”

Teachers Appreciation  celebrations –be they a Day or a Week-remind us to thank teachers for all that they can do, and all that they choose to do, so that we can successfully do what we do. What a terrific tradition. 

Without educators, we all might as well be living under rocks, grubbing for our food, fending off our enemies in games of Who Has the Biggest Stick, and waiting for some smarter person to discover fire while we die young.

During my school days, my peers and I always understood, even if we didn’t always like the journey or the guide, that our teachers would lead us down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City.  Our treasure, and theirs, was the light in our eyes when we got it.

Teachers, 

  • You create your magic every time you share your knowledge, abilities and skills with your students and peers.
  • You create joyful, inspiring and safe classrooms for all of your charges - especially for those who might not experience such pleasures in their personal worlds.
  • You teach us to live up to our potentials, to follow our dreams, and to strive to make this world a better place.


We need your magic- and we always will.

In your honor, Teachers pay Teachers is holding a Teacher Appreciation Sale on May 3rd-4th. Stop in and browse. Give yourself the gift of time with a few lessons and activities.
May Teacher Appreciation Sale


Thank you, teachers!