Honoring the Teachers

"Busyville" - the town Hannah created for a school project

As we all still reel from the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, last week, fellow blogger Outlaw Mama shared her post "I've Always Had Angels Looking Out For Me" about the teachers who took an interest in her throughout her life. I loved the idea of paying homage to those women and men who helped shape the person I've become. Below I share some of my experiences and thank not only those teachers, but acknowledge all of the family and friends who continue to shape and inspire children every day.

For the teachers who:

• Let me show off my new Cabbage Patch Kid dolls.
• Pretended that she and I had special mind-reading skills.
• Put on the play I wrote in third grade.
• Let me join the choir when I moved in mid-year.
• Taught me organizational skills along with science.
• Were purposefully hard on me, because they knew I had more to offer.
• Organized the trip to Boston that changed my life.
• Allowed my friends and me hang out in your classroom during your lunch hour.
• Appreciated my point of view more than the fact that I completed the assignment.
• Permitted the class discussion to go off topic on the days we needed it.

THANK YOU. Thank you for showing up each day, for taking the task seriously, for treating each student as an individual, for taking care of children in ways that their parents cannot.

What did a teacher do for you?