Teachers are with our children for more hours each week day than we are. Every day they teach, guide, love, and protect our kids. As an educator, I need to admit something. I never thought of my students as someone else’s. Yes, for that academic year they were also mine. If they were home sick, I worried about them. If they were celebrating a big event, I cheered them on. When they needed someone to talk with in confidence, my ear was always there.

No teacher is perfect and I often have to stop myself from being THAT parent. The one that jumps to conclusions and gets upset with a project, lack of communication, or way something is handled. Then I think about all of the items that a teacher has on his/her plate these days. They wear a lot of hats and are expected to mold the next generation in a myriad of ways.

This weekend, I spent some time and e-mailed both of the main teachers that work with my boys. I wanted them to know that I appreciate all that they do. I know thanks to them and the school community that my kids are in a safe place. Crazy things can happen in any location, even a school, but their teachers, principal, and other support staff would protect them without blinking an eye.

To the heroic teachers that lost their lives last Friday, may memories live with your students and families to keep your messages moving forward. Please take a moment today or this week to remember and thank a special teacher from your life or in the life of a child.

Thank you to Julie Meyers Pron at Julieverse.com for sharing this idea with all of us. I hope more people will join in to thank other educators.