My father was a school teacher. His brother was a school teacher. His brother’s wife was a school teacher. My step-mother was a school teacher. I married a school teacher. As a school teacher I stand in the midst of a family tradition. This evening I stood in a graduate class of thirty-two students and was amazed that almost half of them were leaving other careers and reeducating themselves so they could enter elementary classrooms. The other half are already elementary teachers getting their masters’ degrees.
Teaching is a profession whose value is not defined by its remuneration. Only in eternity will we begin to realize the value of what teachers do day after day. The opportunity to reach into the mind of a child and to challenge and inspire them to greatness is without a doubt one of the most exciting things that can happen to anyone. Yesterday our President used his bully pulpit to address the children of our land and he said, “Take responsibility for your education. Go to class and listen. Don’t let failures define you. . . .That is the promise of education in America, that no matter what we look like or where we come from or who our parents are, each of us should have the opportunity to fulfill our God-given potential.”
God gave our children pliable minds. What they become, who they will be, very much depends not only upon what we say to them but what we are in front of them. Each of us is a teacher no matter what we do for our paycheck.
One of my favorite authors wrote, “He who co-operates with the divine purpose in imparting to the youth a knowledge of God, and molding the character into harmony with His, does a high and noble work.” White E.G., Education, p. 19.
Written by Roger Bothwell on September 10, 2009
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574