Dear Miss Keary,
In all the times that I have ever been asked who my favorite teacher was or who inspired me the most, I always say you. You were my kindergarten teacher and although I have had dozens of teachers after you, there is no comparison. Usually when former students look back, they find themselves thanking the teachers that wrote them recommendation letters, or the teachers that made an unpopular subject fun. No one thinks to go back all the way to the beginning of their time as a student, to the very first teacher they had.
A kindergarten teacher has a very important job. His or her job is to set the precedent for a child's education. Kindergarten is the first stop for every child on a long road of education that will lead them to great places. You became a teacher to educate the next generations, you taught kindergarten to lay the foundation for everything else those kids will come to know. Every teacher of mine has depended on you to lay that foundation for which they can build on. The foundation is everything because if it were weak, there would be nothing to build off of.
When I started thinking about what I wanted to do with my life, I always bounced around a few different ideas, but the idea of being a teacher was always closest to my heart. I loved the idea of interacting with children on a daily basis, and being a source of knowledge and inspiration for them.
Now, I am going to school for Elementary education and when someone asks me what grade I hope to teach, I always say kindergarten because of you. I hope that I can be half the teacher you were. I want to inspire my students to one day pursue the field of education because of me, or think of me as their favorite teacher 15 years later.
So, thank you for everything you did on a daily basis. You weren't just my teacher, you act as your students' temporary parent, nurse, friend, mentor, and cheerleader. Being a teacher is not as much one job as it is a million little jobs that you fit together so seamlessly.
It means a lot to me when I still run into you over 15 years later and you still remember my name and ask me how I am doing. It is amazing that you can still remember your students from that long ago and genuinely care how each and every one of us is doing. I just hope one day that I can be even half the teacher you were.
Thank you for everything you've ever done for me and every other student that has ever entered your classroom. Thank you for being an inspiration for me. Thank you for being my teacher. I wouldn't be me if it weren't for you.
