Today I want to express my gratitude to educators. The lady pictured above is Thelma Arnold. At Will Rogers High School she was my Chemistry, and Physics teacher. She was simply the best. All in all my classmates in Physics were pretty smart students. They have become engineers and lawyers, and community leaders. To Mrs. Arnold we were frustrating teenagers. She would smack her pointing stick on the lab counter and exclaim, "C'mon you guys. I could teach monkeys to do this."
We were scared to death of her.
We also respected her without reservation. We knew what she was doing was hard work and that she did her work from a full heart. She may have appeared angry and grumpy but she was only pushing us to be our best. She was the best. Among all the teachers, professors, counselors I have learned from over the years, Momma Arnold was the best.
And our nation is full of women and men just like her.
They get up and go to school every day. They take crap from students, They live on low pay. They pay for items for their classrooms. They work overtime. They cry over our children. They love our children. They push our children. They teach. They embrace.
They even stand between our children and bullets when need be, as did Coach Aaron Feis who was gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL on February 14. He chose to stand between the kids and the shooter and he gave his life protecting the students.
I pray he is the last educator to be forced to stand between a shooter and students. Teachers are meant to teach, not sacrifice their lives to protect their students, but Coach Feis did just that. And just about all of the teachers I know would do the same. And last week the ones I know thought about it. They thought about having to lose their lives to save lives.
I am grateful for teachers; for educators, for professors. Those who help us learn. I am grateful for them all.
It's been a stressful few days for the teachers I know. Give them some encouragement when you can. Write your representatives in government to advocate for our educators. They believe in our kids. Let's show them we believe in them.
Thanks, Mrs. Arnold. You were the very best.
Peace and Love,
Jerry
No comments:
Post a Comment