For those who may not have noticed, last week was National Education Week, a time to recognize the people who educate us, that teach us skills that will - we hope - last for a lifetime. National Education Week is a time to show our appreciation for those teachers who have affected our lives, who have taught us our life skills. My question is "Why?"
I wonder why we need a week to show that appreciation that they have so obviously earned. Why not we show our appreciation for teachers every day? Why aren't we saying "thank you" on days that aren't part of National Education Week? Why aren't these underpaid, underappreciated, overworked members of society getting the kudos they deserve?
I am as guilty as everyone else. Last year, I had a teacher who helped me not only to learn a subject, but to more clearly express my opinions - and even made me consider issues and sides of issues that I had never considered before.
Genia Allen-Schmid was my Global Village teacher last year. Ms. Allen-Shmid taught that class in a way that I have never been taught before . with student input! Yes, that's right - she actually asked us what we thought we should do, and how we should do it. By the end of the semester, I understood the idea of a "global community," global hunger, the United Nations, and even the war in Bosnia. Ms. Allen-Schmid not only taught us about these things, but always found a way to relate them to our lives, to "put it in perspective."
In Global Village, we had heated discussions almost every day (I believe our discussion on hunger and homelessness lasted almost a week). Because of this openness and encouragement of ideas, I learned about many issues that I was not clear about previously, and heard from people with very different ideas than mine.
In Global Village, I learned more than just what was going on in the world: I learned why and how, and what other people thought of those events. I learned so much in Global Village, I can't put it all in one article.
I appreciate everything that Ms. Allen-Schmid taught me, but I never told her. Sadly, it took National Education Week to remind me of all that I have learned. So, I ask all of you: if there is a teacher who has taught you as much as she taught me, thank him or her. Not because of National Education Week. Not because it's an easy way to get in good with that teacher. Do it because they deserve to be thanked.