Thanks, Teachers

To my wife, who found herself getting her dream job as the principal of Wetumpka Elementary School after over 20 years in education just as the world was about to be, to put it mildly, turned on its ear. A lesser person wouldn't have been able to get through those early days, much less three years. You did and here you are, still putting in the work! I'm crazy proud of you. Having said that...

Kudos to all the teachers, and there are many, who have held the proverbial rope over the last three years and understood that the calling they answered when they became teachers was changed forever when the world stopped in 2020. The mental health of adults and children alike, including teachers and their families, was dealt a tremendous blow as the whole world had to suddenly learn how to live life with precious little face-to-face human interaction and under a near constant cloud of anxiety and uncertainty.

Toddlers who, over the course of only a few days, went from playdates and birthday parties to almost total isolation, are now starting school for the first time without the benefit of having learned valuable socialization skills. Children yet to learn healthy coping mechanisms to anxiety and conflict and anger and sadness are now winding their way through elementary, middle, and high school and they need you big time, right now.

Perhaps, it's for such a time as this that God called you to teach. Maybe it's not what you signed up for. What am I saying? Of course it isn't. You could've never foreseen this. None of us could have. Through no fault of your own it's where you are, though, and I want those of you who continue to persevere through all the headaches and heartaches, to know that we see you.

You're making an important difference even though you may not be able to see it, or even feel it, yet. You're helping guide the youngest and most vulnerable victims of the events of the last three years through uncharted waters. I honestly believe that because of your work, thankless as it may seem and as difficult as it has been, that there will be a new generation of adults in a few years who will be better equipped than we were to manage and navigate a crisis like the one from which we are just now, finally, emerging. That's the kind of stuff that literally makes the world a better place for us all.

All that to say this: We appreciate you. What you're doing isn't going unnoticed. It may not come with big pay raises or standing ovations when you walk into a room, but I hope you know it's a noble thing you do and I, for one, am glad we still have great teachers out there saving the world.

Thank you.