we asked our staff this week to write a thank you note to a teacher that made a life long impact on them. Our first thank a teach teacher note is from our Director of Program Curriculum, Ashley Acuff
Thank a teacher. There shouldn’t be a day, or week dedicated
to thanking teachers. Do it the next chance you get. A simple ‘thank you’ or compliment can make a teacher’s day. Sadly, I didn’t realize this until I was a teacher. All the state mandated paperwork, grading, tutoring, and caring about the well being of students, is all done above and beyond TEACHING.
I grew up in Springboro, Ohio. A city that’s both a suburb of Dayton and Cincinnati. I had many great teachers, like Mrs. Kilheffer, my 3rd grade teacher. She nurtured my love of reading. I still have the class writing project we did, and remember the day she decorated our classroom like the forest, and we read books all day. I was in heaven. My second grade teacher was equally as awesome. Miss Crawford had one green eye and one brown eye with hair so red it was orange. She was nice and nutured my love of animals. I brought in my hermit crabs so they could be the class pet, and we watched Reading Rainbow everyday with Mrs. Thomas’ class after lunch.
The teacher that influenced me the most was Mr. McMahon. He was the 6-12 band director. I have a degree in Music Education. I was going to be just like Mr. McMahon. Funny, witty, smart, talented, the list goes on. I think the only thing we didn’t agree on was which team should with the Browns vs. the Bengals game (Who Dey!). Music, and more specifically band, taught me so many things: team work, dedication, attention to detail, perseverance, the list goes on. The relationships and friendships I have now are because of music. I met my husband in high school band, not to mention the friends I have across the country from high school and college band.
I regret not telling Mr. McMahon thank you for the countless hours spent at rehearsals, dealing with marching band judges, organizing band parents, ordering buses, choosing awesome marching band shows, letting us make fun of his ever growing bald spot (I wonder why), and letting us call him Ed even though his name is David. We thought we were funny kids. Mr. McMahon resigned suddenly my sophomore year of high school. We’ve since lost touch.
Now that I’ve been in his shoes, go thank a teacher. Give them a high five, buy them coffee, tell them how you’re doing, and what you’re up to. Teachers love hearing about the successes of their students. I’m no longer teaching, but thanks to Nine13, I’m in schools everyday. Before we leave for the day, I always thank the teacher.