Something Important Happens Here
So here’s the thing. Everywhere I go I tell people about the amazing educators I serve. I tell the people I sit next to on airplanes. I tell taxi drivers. I tell my friends and family probably way too much.
I tell people who already know and I tell people who don’t want to hear it. That’s because you all truly are amazing. You make me proud. You make me humble (and if you know me at all, you know that’s very hard to do).
Everywhere I go I hear stories of how you are transforming students’ lives with the power of a great education. You are the best of the best.
I met a librarian in Mississippi who created the most magical reading oasis you could ever imagine; who put off retirement for an extra year so she could keep teaching her little ones the joy of reading; who considers herself theteacher of all students in the school.
I met a teacher in Florida who bravely stood up for her student when the state declared he had to take a mandatory standardized test – despite the fact he was in hospice care and couldn’t even hold a #2 pencil in his hand, let alone take a test.
I met a custodian in Illinois who comes in at 4 a.m. on winter’s snowiest days (winter! In Illinois!) to get the school ready for students. He told me, “The kids know that somebody cares about them when they see a place like this.”
I met a secretary in Utah who sat with a distraught student when her parents were late picking her up from school. When the parents sent her flowers the next day to say thank you, she told me, “They didn’t have to do that. I mean, it was nothing. It’s all just part of the job.”
And it doesn’t matter at all where I go, because you are the same everywhere: you are fearless and hardworking and wonderful. I know you are also tired, and stressed, and most of all worried about those students in your schools who need the extra help.
We are 3 million strong. We are teachers, cafeteria workers, para-educators, custodians, secretaries, bus drivers, school security officers, higher education faculty and staff, administrators, substitute educators, retired educators, and future educators.
I’m so proud of you that I want the whole country to know what you do for students.
That’s why I am so excited to announce a shiny new campaign that people all over the country will see. And, of course, they will all hear about it from me. That goes for seatmates, taxi drivers, friends, family, and everyone else I can get to listen.
Check it out for yourself; I think it’s pretty amazing. And it’s because it’s the story of you.
Visit www.nea.org/GreatPublicSchools for more information. Something Important Happens Here - Lily's Blackboard:
