Appreciating Teachers

Appreciating Teachers

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day to teachers across our country and abroad. You are the backbone of our great nation and stedfast supporters of public education, the genius of our democracy. You have given so much to our children and strive every day to make the world of those you serve, better. 

Thank you! My hope is that our state legislators in Colorado and across the country will begin to do right by you. To take from my friend Todd Nesloney and add a little spin - YOU DESERVE IT! 

Reflecting on "Teacher Appreciation Week" -- I share with you today one of my favorite poems often recited by one of my mentors, the late John Wooden. Thank you for all you do! You are appreciated every second, of every day!

"They Ask Me Why I Teach" 

THEY ASK ME WHY I TEACH
They ask me why I teach,
And I reply,
Where could I find more splendid company?
There sits a statesman,
Strong, unbiased, wise,
Another later Webster,
Silver-tongued,
And there a doctor
Whose quick, steady hand
Can mend a bone,
Or stem the lifeblood’s flow.
A builder sits beside him-
Upward rise
The arches of a church he builds, wherein
That minister will speak the word of God,
And lead a stumbling soul to touch the Christ.
And all about
A lesser gathering
Of farmer, merchants, teachers,
Laborers, men
Who work and vote and build
And plan and pray
Into a great tomorrow
And I say,
“I may not see the church,
Or hear the word,
Or eat the food their hands will grow.”

They ask me why I teach, and I reply,And yet – I may.
And later I may say,
“I knew the lad,
And he was strong,
Or weak, or kind, or proud,
Or bold, or gay.
I knew him once,
But then he was a boy.”
“Where could I find more splendid company?”

*  They Ask Me Why I Teach,” by Glennice L. Harmon, in NEA Journal 37, no. 1 (September 1948): 375



CJ

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