Thank You Teachers
As we emerge from a winter break of cancelled vacations and missed families, with quiet nights at home taking the place of festive celebrations, we take a moment to reflect on how our world, our lives, and especially the lives of our children have changed in the last year. When Springer closed its doors to in-person learning in March, few of us would have believed that many of our student body would not attend in-person school again until after Thanksgiving, or that some will likely not do so for this entire school year.
As parents, we have all struggled with our new realities, meeting the challenges of home schooling with mixed success, and trying to do our best impersonations of teachers despite competing work obligations, technological difficulties, and screen fatigue.
One thing we have learned is that our teachers are truly heroes, and that their role in shaping our childrens’ lives cannot possibly be overstated.
Last spring, our teachers quickly adapted to online learning formats that continued to engage students through laptop or tablet screens.
In the summer, instead of taking breaks and vacations, they redoubled their efforts to become effective virtual teachers, mastering new technology and modified curriculums to help ensure students would not be left behind in a virtual environment that was increasingly likely to continue deep into the new school year.
In fall, with the arrival of the new school year, our teachers worked through technical difficulties, collaborated with parents, and helped our children through this emotionally and academically challenging trimester.
And now, as our children begin returning to in-person school, our teachers bravely reach for their masks and show up every day to teach, guide, and nurture our children, aware of the risks but more confident in the importance of their collective mission.
For all of this, we are eternally grateful. We will not soon forget the persistence, compassion, and courage shown by our teachers during this most unusual year. They are the heart of the Springer community, and the reason we all love being a part of it.
Thank you.
