Chris Granger-Mbugua: Teachers sacrifice more than we can ever know
Granger-Mbugua is a Spelman graduate and was a National Board Certified before she left the classroom. This week she made a guest contribution to Maureen Downey’s column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
It is easy to use teachers as scapegoats when so much around us seems to be falling apart. Certainly, a global pandemic qualifies as a true indicator of things falling apart. But through it all, each one of us has leaned heavily on teachers to help us not only instruct our children in academics, but also to sustain our very society. Without teachers, essential services could not be provided, our economy would collapse, and our children would miss countless opportunities to be nurtured and supported by qualified men and women who truly live to see them thrive.
No teachers I have ever known considers themselves a savior. In fact, many regularly credit their students as being teachers, in their own right.
As a former secondary English teacher, I can attest to learning so much from my students. I learned resilience from my beautiful seventh grade student, a Syrian refugee, who fought to survive. I was reminded of the importance of compassion by a thoughtful and soft-spoken ninth grader, who willingly took on added responsibilities at home, so that his working mother could rest. I learned the power of optimism and hope from countless high school seniors, eager to step boldly into the unknown and discover the world and find their place in it.
These are lessons I will forever hold in my heart.
As we celebrate teachers this week, here are three truths to remember about why teachers deserve not only our admiration, but our support, in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.
Read the three truths, and the full column, here. It will give you a nice lift at the end of this Teacher Appreciation Week.