Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rebecca Holcombe, who is the secretary of the Vermont Agency of Education.
[A]sk anyone in Vermont about his or her favorite educator, and you are likely to get an animated response. In fact, chances are that if you ask people about who had the greatest influence on them, many will name a teacher. Even Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has attributed much of his success to the skill and patience of a Vermont teacher.
On this Thanksgiving, when you sit down to enjoy a hearty meal with family and friends, take a moment to give thanks to our Vermont educators.
We send our most precious thing — our children — into the care of our educators. They shoulder the responsibility of preparing our children for good careers, higher education and civic responsibility. They meet them as they are, and give them support and caring and challenge. They mentor and coach them. However, in a state where opiate abuse is continually in the news and more than 25,000 children under 18 live in food insecure households, teachers also go above and beyond every day to make sure our most vulnerable students get the extra help, support and opportunities they need to thrive alongside their more fortunate peers.
Please join us in giving thanks to our Vermont educators, for supporting all of our children through their daily challenges, taking the time to know them personally, appreciating their uniqueness and helping them prepare for success in the future.
Our educators spend countless invisible hours making sure our students are safe and supported. Recently a member of the Agency of Education completed a site visit to a needy middle school afterschool program. Thirty-five or so exuberant middle schoolers, from all walks of life, ate snacks, shouted at each other (in a good way) or read quietly, while others shared stories from the day. Later students practiced lines from a play, others were tutored in math, and a large bunch of students were doing martial arts. While all these things were happening, our staff member learned that the afterschool director and school nurse were selflessly washing and drying clothes in the basement for a student who had no other way to get them clean. The child’s story of homelessness and need would break your heart.
Our state is full of educators who quietly go above and beyond to support our children, knowing that if they don’t, nobody will. In one school’s classrooms, teachers place baskets of snacks in the back so children, whose families can’t provide enough food, can take what they need. At another school, the after-school coordinator keeps extra toys and snacks, because sometimes the buses bring back children for whom no adult was present to receive the child at the end of the day. Other teachers spend their own time developing opportunities for enrichment or finding resources to share with students, because these children crave learning beyond what is available in their homes or classrooms.
In many places, our educators challenge us to grapple with how our unexamined prejudices might systematically disadvantage some children. Others confront the scourges of racism and discrimination by working a little harder and lending a little of their own privilege, so that all young Vermonters feel safe and valued in classrooms and, ultimately, in life. These educators protect our children, so that in turn, our children grow up and build a safe and civil Vermont.
Let’s remember as we give thanks that educators continue to need our support. As Luke Foley, 2014 Vermont Teacher of the Year, said: “… it still takes a village to raise a child.”
Please join us in giving thanks to our Vermont educators, for supporting all of our children through their daily challenges, taking the time to know them personally, appreciating their uniqueness and helping them prepare for success in the future.
