Teachers deserve appreciation every day

If you’re a member of a PTA or a teachers union, you probably already know that this is National Teacher Appreciation Day. And no matter who you are, you probably already know it’s important to thank the teachers who helped us become who we are.

Schoolteachers are second only to parents in the influence they wield in shaping the next generation. Given the importance of that task, it would be logical to think that teachers would be respected professionals, handsomely paid and universally held in high regard. But we know better than to think that logic rules the world.

Having a teacher appreciation day (and week) is a poor substitute for creating a culture and a government that truly honors teachers. Nonetheless, it’s an occasion for all of us to thank the people who taught us how to read and write and opened the world of learning for us.

It’s also an occasion for thinking about all of the teachers in our lives, not just in the classroom, but in the workplace, in our families and places of worship, and in our community.

In each of our lives, there have been people who taught us lessons big and small, often at the same time. Perhaps it was a favorite aunt, who, while showing a youngster how to pick strawberries and make jam, delivered a silent lesson about the nurturing power of love. Or it might have been a coach who taught us to try hard and then to try harder, a co-worker who taught us how to gracefully navigate office politics, or an artist whose work opened doors inside us we didn’t even know were there.

There are also teachers who enlighten whole communities and cultures. In the wake of a police shooting of two young black men a year ago, many of us were educated by the Thurston Black Alliance, whose leaders taught our police chief, community leaders and many residents to recognize the privileges white people take for granted and to see what the world looks like through the eyes of black people.

In truth, all of us are teachers in one way or another, for better or for worse. We’ve long known that children learn more from what we do than what we say, and the same is true for our friends, family and even perfect strangers. Everyone’s behavior feeds into the stream of information that molds our culture and our opinions about human nature.

Our words matter too, of course. Words of kindness teach kindness; hateful words teach hate; encouraging words teach courage.

When we think about the teachers who’ve helped us the most — in and out of the classroom — we think of the teachers who taught us more than skills and knowledge. The teachers we remember most vividly and gratefully are those whose words and deeds taught us to believe in ourselves, to have hope for the future and to keep trying harder.

Those are the teachers we should thank today.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Teachers deserve appreciation every day."