A Public Thank You

It’s always nice to be recognized for the efforts you put into something. There’s something liberating about it really. Perhaps it’s in the knowledge that somebody noticed that you were doing something right; that others appreciated the extra efforts you put into a job long after the time clock had said that you could go home.

It’s draining…those days when you come to work and the sun hasn’t yet risen, and has long since set by the time you stagger out to the parking lot. In fact, there have been days that I felt so exhausted that I have been reminded of Bilbo Baggins when he said that he felt like butter scraped over too much bread.

However, there are moments that give me the shot of adrenaline that I need to make it through another day. It’s in the card that Joey made for me, it’s in the hug that Becky insists on giving me each day when everybody else is leaving and getting high fives, it’s in the ‘secret’ note left on my desk that one of my students tried to surreptitiously leave, but I know they wanted to be seen because they lingered just a bit too long. It comes in the smile and the thankful words of a parent who glowingly reports of a child who loves to come to school each day. It happens when I pull out my guitar and my class gets excited as I draw my fingers across the steel strings, and we join our voices together as one.

In fact, the desire to keep on keeping on comes from all of these—and a thousand other—moments which compose a lifetime.

However, every once and again the appreciation comes in a different form. It comes in a way that you least expected, and one you don’t ever truly feel that you rightly deserve.

I wanted to publicly thank the parents and students of Amelia Earhart Elementary for the honor of being chosen as this year’s Golden Apple Teacher, though a dozen other teachers could have received—and rightly so—this honor. Words can never truly express the how I feel. Thank you for entrusting me with the education of your children…and for noticing all the little efforts along the way.