Sunday, April 20, 2008

Where are the heroes of today?




I thought this was a nice piece about teachers whether it be public school or otherwise.



A radio talk show host Thundere**d*.
He blames society's shortcomings on education. Too many people are looking for heroes in all the wrong places.
movie stars and rock musicians,
athletes, and models aren't heroes; they're celebrities.

Heroes abound in
public schools, a fact that doesn't make the news. There is no precedent for the level of violence, drugs, broken homes, child abuse, and crime in today's America. Education didn't create these problems but deals with them every day.

You want heroes? Consider Dave Sanders, the schoolteacher shot to
death while trying to shield his students from two youths on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Sanders gave his life, along with 12 students, and other less heralded heroes survived the Colorado blood bath.

You want heroes? Jane Smith, a Fayetteville, NC
teacher, was moved by the plight of one of her students, a boy dying for want of a kidney transplant. So this woman told the family of a 14 year old boy that she would give him one of her kidneys. And she did. When they subsequently appeared together hugging on the Today Show, even Katie Couric was near tears.

You want heroes? Doris Dillon dreamed all her life of being
a teacher. She not only made it, she was one of those wondrous teachers who could bring the best out of every single child. One of her fellow teachers in San Jose, Calif said, "She could teach a rock to read.

" Suddenly she was
stricken with Lou Gehrig's Disease which is always fatal, usually within five years. She asked to stay on job...and did. When her voice was affected she communicated by computer.

Did she go home? Absolutely not! She is
running two elementary school libraries! When the disease was diagnosed, she wrote the staff and all the families that she had one last lesson to teach .... that dying is part of living. Her colleagues named her Teacher of the Year.

You want heroes? Bob House, a teacher in Gay, Georgia, tried out for
Who Wants to be a Millionaire. After he won the million dollars, a network film crew wanted to follow up to see how it had impacted his life.

New
cars? Big new house? Instead, they found both Bob House and his wife still teaching. They explained that it was what they had always wanted to do with their lives and that would not change. The community was both stunned and gratified.

You want heroes? Last year the average school teacher spent $468
of their own money for student necessities...workbooks, pencils-supplies kids had to have but could not afford. That's a lot of money from the pockets of the most poorly paid teachers in the industrial world.

Schools
don't teach values? The critics are dead wrong. Public education provides more Sunday School teachers than any other profession. The average teacher works more hours in nine months than the average 40-hour employee does in a year.

You want heroes? For millions of kids, the hug they get from a teacher
is the only hug they will get that day because the nation is living through the worst parenting in history.

An Argyle, Texas kindergarten teacher hugs
her little 5 and 6 year-olds so much that both the boys and the girls run up and hug her when they see her in the hall, at the football games, or in the malls years later.

A Michigan principal moved me to tears with the story of
her attempt to rescue a badly abused little boy who doted on a stuffed animal on her desk-one that said "I love you!" He said he'd never been that at home.

This is a constant in today's society... two million unwanted,
unloved, abused children in the public schools, the only institution that takes them all in. You want heroes?

Visit any special education class and
watch the miracle of personal interaction, a job so difficult that fellow teachers are awed by the dedication they witness. There is a sentence from an unnamed source which says: "We have been so eager to give our children what we didn't have that we have neglected to give them what we did."

What
is it that our kids really need? What do they really want? Math, science, history and social studies are important, but children need love, confidence, encouragement, someone to talk to, someone to listen, standards to live by.

Teachers provide upright examples, the faith and assurance of
responsible people.

You want heroes? Then go down to your local school and
see our real live heroes, the ones changing lives for the better each and every day!

*~Author Unknown*

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4 comments:

Unknown said...

All I can say is "WOW"!!!! I loved reading this blog! I have had a love and appreciation for teachers my entire life. I can remember every single teacher I had growing up...first and last names and the specific things they did that encouraged me and gave me the motivation I needed.

One teacher imparticular, my 5th grade teacher, believed in me so much and once told me that she believed I would be the first woman US President! lol That so isn't me, I'm not into politics too much, but the inspiration she gave me and the belief she had in me has stuck with me to this day.

I may not remember the names the general public may consider heroes, but I can remember every first and last name of my teacher's growing up. THEY are my heroes. Kudos to you for this blog...it is definately something that more people need to acknowledge! :)

Tidbits Of Tammy said...

Thanks so much for your great comment. I really feel they do not get the recognition they deserve. I work for a school dist so I see every day how dedicated they are. They touch more lives than we know. I do hope this one gets spread around. Thanks for stopping by!
Tammy

Beth Anderson said...

Thank you so much for posting this powerful tribute. I've been teaching for 23 years and so so much of this is true. I do spend at least $1000 a year on my class and I certainly don't make much money. So many people say "well, you have the summer off." In turn I say "well, I don't get paid for it. I have to find another job to make ends meet." The schools force us to stretch our salary over 12 months, but we only get paid for 9. I love my job and the kids, but it gets harder and harder every day. Too much testing and pressure to meet mandated requirements. It's not fair to the children. The kids in my class have only been in this world 6 years. Let them be kids and let me TEACH them, not teach to the test.

Tidbits Of Tammy said...

Chic Girl,
You are so welcome and my hat go off to you for your selfless dedication.
I know you guys do spend a lot of your own money. Just another way you folks show your commitment to the kids. People for the most part just don't realize, they think you got it made with your "summers off". You have to be a great saver to stretch your money over those summer months.

I am totally agreeing with you about the test and such. They are pushing to hard these days. It seem to me that every grade is at the next grade up.

My son went to preschool this year and they had these kids learning Kindergarden. I actual made a post about it.

Let kids be kids!

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit and sharing with me!

Tammy