A STUDENT IN our community today will walk the halls of Congress with a pinned American flag on their chest. A student in our community today will pray their knees still hold when their nerves get the best of them as they walk the steps to the stage to accept a Grammy. A student in our community today will one day have sweaty palms as they fly across the world to defend our country. Every kindergarten classroom in our community is full of future firefighters, future parents, future doctors, and future happy humans who didn’t want a job to define them. A future president may be walking our halls today.
The kids who laugh on the playground today will one day face hard choices where both paths hurt. They may have a moment where they question themselves, but they’ll make the right choice in the end. They’ll remember their role model. They’ll think, “What would Mr. Jean do?” and remember who they are. They’ll race across the field during the Super Bowl, remembering their history teacher — their coach — as they score the winning touchdown. They’ll raise kids of their own, repeating the mantras they heard in the 10th grade. Childhood memories will play in their minds when they take the table’s order, and their favorite teacher sits with a smile.
Our educators create legacies that carry on for the rest of time. Not because they make good money that way — just because that’s who they are. They wake up early, work long days with less pay than they deserve, and come home to take care of their other responsibilities. They bring extra school supplies for the kids who had to do without. They teach our children how to do math and how to read, yes … but they also teach our kids how to look inward. They teach our kids how to fight for a better world. But most importantly, they teach our kids how to love.
Teachers, we thank you for the legacies you create and the legacies that you are. This issue of Good News is for you. GN
