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Seize the Day

Being a teacher must be one of the most grueling and thankless jobs there is, I frequently thought as I saw my mom collapse into the La-Z-Boy chair every day after work.

My mom taught kindergarten for close to 30 years, and for the life of me I couldn't see why anyone would choose to be a teacher. After all, those kindergartners seemed to suck the life right out of my mom, we certainly weren't rolling in dough and mom frequently spent evenings schmoozing at school socials, meeting with other educators or discussing issues with concerned parents. The only benefit I could see was the summers off — but even back then the teachers' working year was seeping like an insidious slime into later June and earlier August.

Maybe as I get older I'm getting a clearer picture of what's important in life, but while attending the May 7 Excellence Event put on by the White Bear Area Education Foundation, I finally started to understand why people find teaching gratifying.

The annual event works like this: the district identifies the top 10 percent of its senior class as well as certain honorees from the White Bear Lake Area Learning Center, and the students nominate four educators who have impacted their lives since kindergarten. The educators can include teachers, coaches, administrators or other school personnel. Administrators designate one of the four to be their "honored educator" in order to avoid duplication and to recognize as many educators as possible.

The student and educator then share a meal together at an end-of-year banquet, nibbling on bear-shaped cookies before taking the podium to receive awards shaped like white bears. A simple concept, to be sure, but one that allows for a moment of genuine recognition and appreciation for the extra effort the educators have gone through in the course of their careers. 
In a pamphlet produced for the occasion, comments from the students revealed that they were affected by their honorees in a wide variety of ways — many of which had little to do with the materials they were being taught. 

"She taught us discipline and respect for one another," read one.

"He helped me realize my duty to those in my community," read another. One student noted that her teacher "gave me and many others the patience, inspiration and sense of humor to survive a stressful time in our lives — high school."  

Neither did all the educators come from the secondary level; several students chose to honor those who had impacted them at an early age.

"She taught me that I could do anything I put my mind to," wrote one young woman of her first-grade teacher.

"She helped me grow as a person, encouraged me to be a leader and taught me the value of respect," said another about her fourth and fifth grade teacher. One wrote that her fifth grade teacher "taught me to have fun always."

I knew very few people at that banquet, but it was touching to see the pairs file through to receive their awards: the teachers bestowing hugs or handshakes, humble but obviously pleased to have been chosen; the students a little awkward as they wobbled by on their high heels or subtly adjusted their ties.

It occurred to me that for every student who is disrespectful, indifferent or unreachable, there must be one who only needs a little extra push to recognize his or her own potential.

For the first time, I "got it" about why a teaching career could be rewarding.

Noted psychologist Abraham Maslow theorized that feeling appreciated may be the greatest human need there is. So here's to the educators who give up their chance at higher-powered, higher-paying jobs —not to mention their time, energy and a part of their hearts  — for our kids. 

And happy summer vacation to all.

Michelle Miron is the managing editor at Press Publications. She can be reached at 651-407-1226 or shellmiron@presspubs.com.

http://presspubs.com/articles/2008/05/22/columns/doc48342f3c6ffa2966199274.txt