—C. S. Lewis
I am a teacher. My mother was a teacher before me. My sister was a teacher with me. My daughter is a teacher after me. It is in our blood. It is in our hearts. It is in our souls. I have taught about Shakespeare, Emerson and Thoreau. I have taught iambic pentameter, haiku, and sonnets. I have taught nouns, verbs and prepositions. I started a drama program, wrote and taught a humanities curriculum and coached my wonderful debate team.
I have held a student’s hair as she vomited. I have sat with a boy as he went through a seizure. I have dealt with pregnant teenagers more often than I can count and wiped a million tears from the cheeks of heartbroken girls and boys who believed that they would never love again. I have cheered at their football games and cried at their funerals. I was a surrogate mom, a nurse, a counselor, a policeman and a friend when the job called for it.
I gave lunch money out regularly, bought school supplies that the school could not afford, and even bought my own desk chair because there was none to replace my broken one. I was assigned “duties” during my planning periods. I did bus duty, cafeteria duty, hall duty and anything else they conjured up...all without extra pay. I spent hours grading and planning during nights and weekends...again with no extra pay.
I did it all (and loved it all) because I love your children. I learn from them and loved helping them see what they can be. For a year at a time, they were “my kids” too, and I would have protected them with all of my heart and body if I needed. I was not surprised that teachers stood in front of bullets to protect their students in Parkland. They weren’t taught that, but most would do that without a thought. Protecting our kids comes naturally. Shooting at them or around them does not.
Please don’t ask us to carry a gun. Don’t expect us to be able to pull that trigger when there is a room full of students between us and a madman. Don’t expect us to shoot that damaged madman if we taught him last week. Don't put that onus on us. Don’t tell us you have extra money to arm us and give us gun-carrying bonuses but not enough for textbooks, pencils, and a living wage. We need supplies and protection and the assurance that no one (except security) has a weapon with him/her in school. We need politicians with common sense to let us do what we love...help your children become the person they are meant to be.
This week I needed to laugh and Skeletons in the Closet (Laundry Hag Series, Book 1) by Jennifer L. Hart was the perfect book to read. It is a mystery filled with humor that kept me guessing while it kept me laughing. If you are a wife or mother...or if you know one...this is the book for you.
As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly