Dear Teacher,

You are one of the most underappreciated people on the planet; you've had to go through higher education and training in order to deal with whiny kids all day, and spend time after school planning and grading our illiterate essays, on top of balancing your, y'know, lives (I know that some students forget that teachers have social lives and commitments outside of school just like they do, and that isn't fair to you.) Not to mention, you're horrendously underpaid considering the role that you play in shaping the minds of an upcoming generation of leaders, creators, innovators, and even some future teachers.

After my 12 years of public education, it's become very apparent that some teachers are better than others; some are more helpful and are willing to work with you until you understand the subject, while others give you countless references other than themselves. Some teachers try harder to build a relationship with you that will stick even after you're done with their class, while others remain completely separate from their students and avoid any extra contact with them. On the other hand, just like how we don't know what teachers we're going to have, you have no idea who your students are and how they'll react to your teaching style.

The way you conduct your class, care about your students, and teach your subject may open up the door for a student to discover their future career. A good teacher could make or break a student's future plans. They might become infatuated with the way you excitedly talk about books and decide that they want to be an English major, or watch the way your eyes light up when you talk about a mathematical theory and want to be that excited about math. I've definitely had my perspective on certain subjects altered as a result of an exceptionally good or bad teacher, and there's no doubt in my mind that's a lot of pressure, a pressure that often times is underappreciated.

From the love of history that developed from my fourth-grade teacher, to the silly outlook on life that I got from my fifth-grade teacher to the decision to have a career in journalism thanks to my high school newspaper teacher, I've learned something from every teacher that I've ever had, something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I want you to know how appreciative I am for everything that you do. It does not go unnoticed.

For the teachers who come in early or stay after late to work with students and to the teachers that put an inexplicable amount of passion into their jobs: thank you. You don't get enough credit for the amount of work and effort that you put into your job. Not just anyone could do your job, and an even smaller fraction of that can do it as well as you.

Sincerely,

An appreciative student