For all your end-of-summer blues, “why do I have to set my alarm clock again?” shock, and your endless prepping and planning for this first day of school, know that your efforts matter.
In just our home, you have a soon-to-be second grader and a brand-new kindergartner feeling excited for a new year to begin. They are anxious, yet just can’t wait to get to know their teachers.
When you step into your classroom this year, as some of you already have, you will profoundly and forever impact the lives of children.
You are a hero. Really, truly, we should hold a ticker-tape parade in your honor tomorrow. As the sun rises in the morning we should usher you down your nearest main street in an open top cadillac. We should line the streets, waving signs, celebrating the great gifts you will give this year.
This year
you will be someone’s champion
you will forever change someone’s self-esteem
you will touch a family in a profound way
you will help a colleague more than you will know
you will heal a heart
you will grow a mind
you will change another small part of the world for the better.
Here’s to an amazing school year.
Thank you for the gifts you share, the struggles you surmount, and the belief you hold.
Happy 2014-15!
Christopher Lehman 