The Work You Are Doing Is Not Going Unnoticed
A message to OFT members during Teacher Appreciation Week:
For years, I have been amazed by what I see when I visit your schools and classrooms. Whether it’s a kindergarten classroom where you are challenging students with questions like, “why do leaves change colors in the fall?”, a middle school classroom where students are applying math skills to the archery they do as an extracurricular activity, or a high school career tech class where students are getting hands-on experiences to prepare them for a career after graduating, the work you do is amazing and is making a difference in the lives of students. No one could ask you to do more.
Yet in the last seven weeks, you have done more!
When the COVID-19 crisis hit Ohio, our school buildings shut down rather suddenly, but school did not end. Instead, you quickly switched from teaching face-to-face to giving instruction remotely. Whether it was preparing learning packets for students who do not have Internet access or setting up Google classrooms, you found ways to make sure that students continue to receive an education even under unprecedented circumstances.
I’ve seen Facebook posts from teachers like Carrie Hudson in Georgetown who is not only putting up online lessons for her 8th-grade students but also educating her own three children and her nieces and nephews. I’ve talked to teachers like Casey Dowler in Crestview who is reading bedtime stories with her class a couple of nights a week so they not only practice their reading skills but also get to see their classmates online. I’ve watched teachers like Debbie Welch in Toledo teach fractions using items from her kitchen.
You all make it look easy, yet I know the truth is that you are working harder than ever. But behind the scenes are all the actions you are taking that show how much you truly care. You show your care for your students by spending hours making calls to check on students’ mental health and to see if parents need any support, as I’ve heard reported in every local across this state. You show your care by making sure students are still getting food as you have done in places like Toledo, Berea, Cincinnati, and everywhere in between. You show your care by purchasing books to give out to students as you have done in Brookfield, Cleveland, and across the state. And you show your care by spending extra hours creating lessons to deliver in new formats.
The work you are doing is not going unnoticed. Parents and community members have a new level of appreciation for what it takes to be a teacher. But most of all, your students will never forget how during a time of great uncertainty in their lives, you were there to help maintain a level of normalcy in their lives and you were there to provide comfort.
Thank you for choosing to be a teacher. And thank you for showing the world that being a teacher is about so much more than delivering content. It is about giving of yourself to children who become like your own and helping them to reach the next stage in their lives, no matter the circumstances.
