Dear Elementary Education Majors/ Teachers,

Let me start off by saying thank you! Of course your students adore you, parents are impressed by you, and the administration admires you, but I feel like Early Childhood teachers are often under-appreciated. As a future high school teacher, you are doing something that I could never do.

You are providing your students with the foundation that they will continue to build upon for the rest of their lives. And I am sure that task cannot be an easy one. Early Childhood Education is not just about coloring worksheets and glueing macaroni to construction paper. It is about instilling basic skills, knowledge, and principles into these young minds to prepare them for the future.

The passion and patience you have for your students is remarkable! Thank you for teaching them to love learning, and thank you for loving to learn yourself. Let me tell, this makes it much easier when they get into the higher grades. Giving them a chance and believing in them when they don't believe in themselves makes a bigger difference than you will ever know.

When you feel like you aren't being appreciated or when you see educators being looked down upon, just remember that you have one of the most important jobs in the world. You are a teacher! Without us, there would be no doctors, lawyers, or engineers. I think you catch my drift. If you take a minute to think about the most successful person you know, please realize how they got there. I can tell you one thing- They couldn't accomplish their dreams without going to school and having teachers guided them.

Lastly, without you, I couldn't do my job. I'm sure you can imagine that High School Education is much different than Early Childhood Education. The reading passages become longer, handwriting worksheets turn into 10 page research papers, and the math problems are so complex that I can barely keep up. But I want you to know that all of your efforts do not go unnoticed. You are preparing these bright little minds to do incredible things, such as pass my 11th grade class, or maybe even find the cure for cancer.

Education is your legacy. Even if you touch just once student's life, that student will touch many more. I hope that one day when I ask my seniors who their favorite teacher was that they will say your name. Thank you for changing the world one student at a time.

Sincerely,

A High School Education Major/ Teacher