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Teacher Appreciation Week – #Thankateacher

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week and this year appreciation for our children’s teachers is at an all-time high. With the closing of schools due to the coronavirus pandemic, parents and children alike are having to adjust to a new platform of distance learning.  Parents are becoming more involved in the day to day education of their kids and are getting a small taste of what a teacher’s day is really like. 

While the children are learning, their parents are learning a little something, too. 

Jennifer Zarrahy, a mother of four from Los Angeles, CA discovered that patience is definitely a virtue, one she doesn’t have enough of. 

“The extreme amount of patience it takes to “allow” a child to learn at their own pace is a gift not many people possess – myself included. Teachers exhibit this level of patience with 20+ kids at a time?! It’s hard to fathom. Not to mention the amount of actual work there is to be done and my daughter is only in 1st grade. Plus, they spend 6.5 hours a day, 5 days a week, with all our rugrats and still come back on Monday for another week of it. They are saints. I teachers.”

Delayni Zarrahy, preschool at La Petite Academy and Kinley Zarrahy, first grader at Arroyo Elementary

Tami Morris from McKinney, TX shares her sentiment.

“We’ve always liked both kids’ teachers. But now we definitely appreciate them more because of their patience.  Having to keep the kids on task takes a whole lot of it.  Teachers deserve so much more $$ and bonuses!! My kids are pretty good students, but I can’t imagine having to deal with 15-20 kids Monday through Friday…without wine.”

Marley and Lennon Morris, kindergarten and second grade at Elliott Elementary

Christina, a resident of Dallas TX, has a different perspective that comes from being a mom, as well as a former teacher. 

“My daughter is in kindergarten this year and I taught grades six through twelve for twelve years. After trying to teach my daughter during the day, I have even more respect for those who teach kindergarten and elementary grades. The whole kinder team has been working incredibly hard to create videos and differentiate instruction during this unprecedented time. So many of them are planning and answering constant questions from students and parents while trying to teach their own children and doing so very well.”

Cortney’s stroll past her kid’s school in Dallas was bittersweet. 

“These teachers are such a HUGE blessing to my kids and our family. I can’t even imagine the blessing they are to the tiny lives of those kids that don’t have what my kids have. These amazing humans at this school are family and right now some of those kids are away from the hugs, love and safety. It breaks my heart to know that this family unit of their classroom is fractured. My hope is that when they return to school that each kid knows how much they’ve been missed. That every teacher has a newfound sense of pride and a new fire for the craft. That every parent that doesn’t have a close relationship with the teachers in the school sees the love and commitment each of these amazing humans have for teaching, leading, supporting and loving their kids.”

Catherine Flakes, intermediate class at Notre Dame School 

Teachers may not be in the classrooms with their students, but they’re still working hard as they use their creativity and passion to stay connected and engaged with their classes.

Cora Taylor at Clarksburg High School in Clarksburg, MD shoots videos for her students every week. 

Colleen Chimenti at Hickory Ridge Elementary in Brunswick, OH “popped” in on her students at home to drop off popcorn care packages. 

Art teacher, John Davis at Bernal Middle School in San Antonio, TX delivered art supplies in pizza boxes to his class.

Asper Robles at Helen Ball Elementary in El Paso, TX wrote a poem and created a mini Ms. Robles for her kids to interact with. 

We’d love to hear about a teacher that had a positive impact on your life. And we’re sure they’d love to hear it, too. #Thankateacher

Written by: Tamara Devers

 

  1. Michelle Devon says:

    Greet article celebrating our Teachers!

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