When I think of teachers, the first thing that comes to my mind is my Oma. My Oma, my mother's mom, was one of the best teachers I will ever know. She taught consumer science, also known as home economics. My Oma taught me how to sew on buttons while we passed the time, talked to me about how important it was to have a checkbook, and, most importantly, how to make deep-dish apple pie, which I make every year on her birthday.
In my family, there have been many ‘traditional’ teachers. My mother is the first person to get a PhD. Her mother was a teacher, my great-grandmother was a teacher and taught in a one-room schoolhouse, and the list goes on. We also have non-traditional teachers. My father taught me about art and carpentry. While I never met his mom, I inherited her green thumb and deep appreciation for baked goods. I’ve learned about what it means to be a farmer and a good steward to the earth from many different women. Teachers are everywhere, and it’s one of the greatest privileges to be taught by so many different people.
Something that all my teachers share is gratitude. Not because they get to do their jobs as teachers, but because through their teaching, they are encouraging others to be the best they can be. My college advisor used to tell me that we are all students, and it's a blessing to be a student because you are always learning something new. Whether that be a new perspective on an old problem, or a new theory that will guide the rest of your life. To be a student is to remain curious, but also to share what you know.
I’ve also learned a lot of empathy from my teachers. Whether it be appreciation for the strawberry plants that grow in my backyard, to the chickens who lay eggs that we eat, to the rituals of care that we use in the classroom and laboratories. To extend gratitude is to extend empathy. You cannot have one without the other.
Since I was little, I’ve been taught to write thank-you notes to my teachers at the end of the school year. A way to extend gratitude for all the lessons learned over the year. I firmly believe that we should all say thank you to our teachers. When I was studying as an undergrad, after each class ended, I would thank my professor for the lesson they taught the class that day. Thanking our teachers is something that we need to do more often. To me, extending our thanks is giving gratitude back. So, if you see an old teacher, say thank you, or just start saying thank you more often.
To all of the teachers who I have had from the past, to those in the present, who may not even know that they are continuing to guide me, and to those in my future, you have my deepest gratitude and appreciation for all that you do.
As the musician Phill Collins said, “In learning, you will teach, and in teaching, you will learn.”
Maren McIlvaine-Newsad is a paraprofessional at MacArthur Early Childhood Center in Macomb
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of TSPR or its license holder, Western Illinois University.
Diverse viewpoints are welcomed and encouraged.