This is why I teach

For those of you who haven't known me long, I am a middle school teacher. I have been for 15 years now. I can't say I love every minute of it, I mean it is a job and it is a LOT of work most of the time. This year I made a shift in my position. Out of the regular classroom and in to what is called a "facilitator's" role. I am supposed to help teacher's kick their lesson plans up a notch for the gifted children in the school who haven't been growing on the end of grade tests. It turned out to be a difficult adjustment and WAY more political than I knew education could be, but I made it through. At one of my darkest points this year I received the letter I will type below. God is amazing to know what I need and provide it at the right time. You see, I was thinking of leaving the profession. All teachers (at least here in NC) do. That is because they squeeze the ever-living life out of us to get the most of the tax dollars they pay us with. I knew when I entered the profession I would never be in the top socioeconomically - I didn't know that my kids would qualify for reduced lunch because of it!? What I'm trying to say is that teaching is quite a thankless profession and we often don't get to see or hear from the kids we taught about how they turned out, which is why we cherish things like I'm going to share below. Ultimately, I think we want to know that we made a difference in someone's life. And so please read, get a tissue if you are tender-hearted, and if you have children in school - write their teacher a nice note.

Mrs. B,
Hi, this is Chris W. You may remember me as a former student. It's hard to believe that here I am about to graduate, and I had your class in the eighth grade. I just wanted to say thank you for being a great teacher. I don't know if you realize the impact you made on my life. You did more than teach me Language Arts. You showed me a lot about life. I still remember sitting with you and talking about the Third Day and Mercy Me concerts. It was so cool to have a teacher that shared the same interests as me. I believe it was your unique style of teaching that made me enjoy your class the most. It was you who inspired me to become a teacher. I want to teach seventh grade Language Arts. Well, thank you so much for everything.
Chris W.

And on that note I will return to the classroom, hoping to impact other students the way I did Chris.