Thank you. Thank you for being essential to our children and the entire country. Thank you for changing all you do at a moment’s notice. Thank you for not giving up on our children or their parents. Thank you for staying up late after taking care of your own family, and reaching deep into that already low reservoir of energy and using it to care for someone else’s kids.
No matter what your role, you have been striving to meet student needs; thank you to teachers, counselors, social workers, nurses, psychologists, coaches, teaching assistants, tutors, librarians, administrative assistants, custodians, student teachers, interns, administrators, technology staff, paraprofessionals, trainers, guards, resource staff, cafeteria staff, bus drivers, transportation support staff, coordinators and everyone else at school whose hands are holding the student safety net.
Thank you for reaching out. Thank you for trying different approaches to meet different needs. Thank you for meeting kids’ emotional needs and attending to far more than the curriculum and the cognitive, but providing another layer of support and assistance to children living in a terrible and frightening time.
Parents have worked hard to be your assistants and in doing so gained a new and renewed admiration for your skill and expertise. We knew you were doing something very challenging and complex and now we have a deeper understanding and appreciation of what it means to be an educator.
Because we went to school does not mean we can be a teacher. Because we visited the nurse’s or counselor’s or tutor’s office, does not mean we have even a fraction of a view of what it takes to do a good job in those roles. After being our children’s teachers’ helpers as well as their parents, we understand more about what it takes to be with them at school.
There was a photo of a large SUV with the words, “You lied. My children are not a joy to have in class” written on the windows. Thank you for fostering sides of our children we don’t see at home. Thank you for being another adult with whom our children could find shelter. Thank you for loving our children in a way that we ourselves found challenging.
We all miss your physical presence as school becomes increasingly remote. We crave your classroom and the power of your smile and gentle way of communicating without words. We want the interactions that Zoom could not replicate, that we could not feel across the distance. Thank you for those extra special visits at home, car parade, care packages, and special appearances. The power of our relationship was so strong that it could sustain us distantly. But your absence is like an uncovered wound we can’t keep from touching.
We know you are being beaten up and berated by some. We know that there are those who do not appreciate the miracles you have wrought. We wish they could sit on your shoulders, cover your eyes and ears, and tell you to just listen to us! We wish the critics had someone who cared for them the way you have cherished our children. We wish everyone had someone calling out across the gulf the way you have bridged this time for us.
The summer beckons. You always earned your summers, what little of them you actually get for yourselves. More than ever before, you deserve a break.
We are worried about the fall. We know you share this concern. Please know that we trust you. We trust that you will continue to do what you have done throughout this ordeal: Do what is best for all of our children.
That is why you are essential, precious, and extraordinary. Thank you is inadequate.
All our love and wishing you health and peace,
Your grateful students, their parents, and members of the community
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