To my Former Teachers:

From preschool to middle school to high school, you have all helped shape me into the person that I am becoming today. I have been able to grow not only as an individual, but also as a leader, student, and peer, all because of every teacher that I was able to have and learn from. Now that I am in college, I hear from many friends who went to larger schools that not all of their teachers knew them well or their families. I know that I am very grateful to have grown up in a small community where all of my teachers took the time to know what my goals were, what my hobbies were, and who my family and friends were. I know that teaching can be extremely difficult, from the long nights of grading, to the drama that envelopes any high school, or to the constant, “Why do we need to learn this, we will never use this in life?” type of remarks, but you always pushed through this, just to make an impact on the lives of your students.

I think that what a lot of students often forget is just how much of your life you spend just trying to create better lives and futures for us. Whether it’s grading tests all night, coaching sports, or helping run several extracurricular activities, we often forget just how much you do for us, and that you do all of it because you want to help your students grow and succeed in life. Not only do I thank you for helping us learn in the classroom, but also for making it an enjoyable experience full of excitement and laughter. From elementary school to high school, some of my fondest memories come from laughing so hard that I nearly cried. You have helped prove that being a teacher isn’t just about lesson plans and grading, but about the 8+ hours of cliche jokes, memory making, and life lessons that helped make the days go a little bit faster.

You were never afraid to tell your students about your past mistakes, just so that we would be able to learn and grow from them. You helped with any problems life threw at us, whether they were math related or not, and helped us grow as individuals. From helping us learn basic math in elementary school to science experiments in middle school or history lessons in high school, all of your current and former students have excelled because of the endless hard work that you put into your profession of being a teacher. Even through the long days of hearing students complain about homework and tests, you still had the ability to create an exciting learning environment and realized that being tough on us would help us in the future. Now that I know that those countless lessons about curriculum, and life lessons do help in the future, I will always be sure to be grateful to all educators, from the preschool level to the college level, because all have helped shape me into the person that I am becoming. So here is a thank you to the teachers that have helped me learn important values, have witnessed my triumphs and downhill slides, and have helped me laugh along the way.