Honoring Teacher Appreciation Week

During Teacher Appreciation Week, and throughout the rest of the year, we treasure the educators who selflessly serve our students, our communities, our futures.

Educators like you possess a unique set of skills and abilities that aren’t always fully understood by those outside the profession. They might recognize your dedication, skills, and creativity, but may not grasp the full range of the powers you possess. However, as you move throughout your community, they may get glimpses. You may be overheard as you seamlessly code-switch in conversations with other educators at social events and speak in abbreviations and acronyms like, “I reread the IEP and then synced my ML data in the SIS and LMS.” At block parties, neighbors may be awed when you shift into “educator voice,” clap your hands and give a focused glance, and watch as all of the neighborhood kids line up in attention.

As magical as these powers may seem, it's your hard work and dedication that makes the difference in your students’ lives and in our communities. Educators like you made a difference for each of us at Clarity. You navigate a constantly evolving landscape with creativity, patience, and resilience. We at Clarity would like to take a moment to appreciate the incredible work that you do every day.

This week, as always, we admire, celebrate and honor you, educators, who serve as:

• Door openers, diamond miners, and visionaries who spot promise, potential, and possibility where others see insurmountable challenges. We are profoundly grateful for your ability to see beyond the third grader struggling to read and admire your insight and dedication to fostering the talents of the next generation.
• Proud boasters of your students’ accomplishments who say “My kids...” at the dinner table. Your care for your students provides them with invaluable love and support.
• Confidants and listeners who, without judgment, provide a caring audience to anyone in the school, even the students who you never had in class. Your empathetic ear lets everyone you meet feel valued, seen, and heard.
• Empaths who seek out the student going through challenging times; the one still figuring out how best to fit in at school. Your kindness and empathy towards students are rare and beautiful qualities that make the world a more welcoming place.
• Artists and creators whose instructional creativity percolates until it becomes the learning experience that students talk about even years later. Your commitment to bringing your knowledge, creativity, and personality to teaching and learning ensures that the value of your lessons goes beyond content standards and assessments.
• Community stalwarts who educated a student’s parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, and, one day, their kids, too. We see when you show up unannounced at family events because your currency has always been relationships.
• Nurturers who discreetly provide food, clothes, supplies, and any other necessities that aren’t met elsewhere. Your liberating care is the embodiment of “give me your huddled masses.”
• Lifelong learners who model curiosity, wonder, and humility to your students. At times you may say, “Did I do that?” and surprise yourself when you’re learning a new technology tool or instructional technique. Your openness and eagerness to continue learning plants seeds that will blossom long into adulthood.
• Passion followers who find second careers in education later in life. Your first-hand industry experience provides students authentic workplace insights. You are living proof that “those who can, teach.”
• Connectors who foster students' passions and help them find their calling and purpose, giving them a way to see a path forward to a bright future.
• Excitement builders who make a classroom an improv set shifting between characters during read aloud, who redesign their classroom based on the historical period being studied, or who literally turn an entire class into an immersive learning game. Your ever-shifting, exciting classroom brings smiles, laughter, and learning together just as it’s intended.
• Data analysts who dive headfirst into spreadsheets to help identify areas of growth for each of your students. You string together skills and plaster data sheets to walls like a detective trying to uncover how you can solve the case for teaching a hard to grasp skill or concept.
• Extracurricular enthusiast who puts miles on your car attending every recital, game, match, race, debate, fall drama, and spring musical to ensure that your students know that they are cared for. Your gift of presence lets students feel valued and seen.
• Grace givers who wipe noses, tie shoes, act out vocabulary, and model life skills. We celebrate how you care for the pre-K students, advocate for the multilingual student, and fully give yourself to each learner regardless of their needs or abilities. Your selflessness and love are a model for us all.

During Teacher Appreciation Week, and throughout the rest of the year, we treasure you, selflessly serving our students, our communities, our futures. You have our sincere thanks.