4,007,908. According to figures released from Market Data Retrieval (MDR), this is the number of K-12 teachers in the United States who are teaching 49.5 million students on a daily basis.1 These figures don’t include the number of homeschool teachers who are teaching 3.7 million children2 nor does it include the number of private, charter, or magnate schools. Teachers account for over 3% of the working population.
If you added college professors to the list, there are 130,377 in the United States.3
Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day. This celebration has been around for a while, beginning in 1944 with discussions between political and educational leaders to find a way to honor this noble profession. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was able to convince the 81st Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day in 1953. Then, on March 7, 1980, Congress declared the day as National Teacher Day. “The National Education Association continued to observe National Teacher Day on the first Tuesday in March until 1985. The National PTA established Teacher Appreciation Week as the first full week of May when the NEA Representative Assembly voted to make the Tuesday of that week National Teacher Day.”4
Many have no idea what a teacher endures. The kids don’t tend to be as much of an issue as the parents. I’m reminded of the dialogue between George Bailey and Zuzu’s teacher, Mrs. Welch, in It’s A Wonderful Life. George has come home to find out that Zuzu is sick. On the phone, he rips the teacher to shreds with these words: “Is this the sort of thing we pay taxes for – to have teachers…to have teachers like you? Stupid, silly, careless people who send our kids home without any clothes on?” Then, when Mr. Welch gets on the phone, George snarls, “Gives me a chance to tell you what I really think of your wife.”5
I’m sure we all had one of those teachers that we didn’t enjoy and maybe they should have thought about a different profession in life. However, we had many teachers that were good and there were a few that resonated with us many years after we left their classrooms. The memories of their teaching lingers with fondness in our hearts.
For me, it’s not just the school teachers that have created fond memories. It’s the Sunday School teachers and youth group teachers that I remember. I wouldn’t even try to list them all because I know I would forget someone. There were so many! Though their methods and styles of teaching were different, one thread of similarity ran throughout each teacher. They cared. They cared about you, the student, and they cared about what they were teaching.
Teachers must continue educating themselves in order to educate others. “Pursuant to Ohio Administrative Code section 3332-1-08, employees of registered Ohio schools are required to take 20 hours of continuing education (CE) relating to their positions every two years, including: 4 hours of least one of the approved online compliance and ethics training course 16 hours of elective topics.”6
God’s teachers should be getting a lot more CE than this! Proverbs 23:12 says, “Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.” And we are reminded in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Why is this so important, especially for the teacher?
James 3:1 warns, “My brethren, be not many masters (literally, teachers), knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.” Those entrusted with teaching are held to greater responsibility.
Celebrate the teachers in your life who have made a difference. Reach out to them and thank them for their hard work and for giving of their lives to impart knowledge and wisdom to eager minds.
1https://www.weareteachers.com/how-many-teachers-are-in-the-us/
2https://parentingmode.com/homeschooling/
3https://www.zippia.com/college-professor-jobs/demographics/
4https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-teacher-appreciation-day-tuesday-of-the-first-full-week-in-may
5http://script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/i/its-a-wonderful-life-script.html
6https://scr.ohio.gov/information-for-schools/continuing-education-requirements/continuing-education-requirements
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