I wanted to first start off by saying thank you so much for all you did for me. Your job was to teach me the skills that would allow me to pass the test. Your job was to teach me common core standards to make sure we were capable of doing well on any standardized test. Your job was to make sure I did my homework and followed all the school rules.

You did so much more than that, though.

You didn't always care if I was learning what "common core" said I had to, or learning things that would be on the future test. You understood when sometimes my homework didn't get turned in on time, and you never seemed to care.

You did care about teaching me how to go through life and those important life lessons I will never forget.

You put aside your own things to help me succeed. You would push me to do all things, even if I thought I couldn't. You pushed me to do the things, even if I didn't want to. You always showed me how to look at the positives in life. You also always knew when I wasn't looking at the positives in life and you were there for me when I just needed someone to vent to.

Sometimes you knew when something wasn't going right even before my best friends did, and that means more than anything. You believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. You pushed me to apply for the scholarships and the schools, even if I didn't think I could get them. You continued to push me and support me, even when I was no longer your student.

You taught me a lot of things in school. You prepared me for the standardized test and even the little classroom quizzes. You pushed me to work hard and to never slack off. You prepared me for college in ways that I never thought a teacher would. You taught me how to have faith in myself. You showed me how to love myself and you pushed me to do the things that I thought I would never be able to do. You told me the things that I didn't want to hear and helped me through the hard times.

Thank you for taking your job above and beyond. Thank you for caring about each and everyone of your students. I hear friends from bigger schools saying how their teachers only care about if they turn their homework in or if they are behaving in class, and I feel so bad for them. I'm so blessed to have gone to such a small school with such awesome teachers.