05-09 - Bartlesville Public Schools

CHALKBOARD - Cont. from Page 1classrooms succeed.If you were remiss in sayingthank you to a teacher on Tuesday,then why not take the opportunitytoday. Perhaps you’ll see one ofthose instructors leading a Sundayschool class. Or, maybe you’ll runacross one on Monday and you canexpress your gratitude. It’s never toolate to provide warm acknowledgementof a job well done.According to information gatheredfrom the National EducationAssociation, the history of NationalTeacher Appreciation Day is a littleunclear. In the 1940s, an Arkansasteacher, Mattye Whyte Woodridge,began a campaign to develop anational day to honor instructorsby contacting political and educationalleaders. One of the people towhom Woodridge wrote was formerfirst lady Eleanor Roosevelt, whoin 1953 persuaded the 81st UnitedStates Congress to proclaim a NationalTeacher Day.The NEA lobbied congress in1980 to proclaim another NationalTeacher Day, which it did – for thatyear alone. But the NEA continuedthe celebration, observing NationalTeacher Day on the first Tuesdayevery March until 1985. The NationalParent-Teacher Associationthen established Teacher AppreciationWeek as the first full week ofMay and the NEA voted to makethe Tuesday of that week NationalTeacher Day.I applaud the efforts of Woodridge,congress, the NEA and theNational Parent-Teacher Association.Instructors throughout thecountry – and the world – certainlydeserve to be recognized for all thatthey do. But though we won’t beobserving another Teacher AppreciationWeek – or National TeacherDay, for that matter – for anotheryear, let’s keep the spirit of thoseThe Bartlesville Public School District boasts many fine teachers who are well deservingof kudos, including Bartlesville High School physics instructor Granger Meador, who wasnamed the BPSD’s Teacher of the Year in February.dates alive as long as we can. Ourteachers are well worth it.Whenever people are asked toname the most influential peoplein their lives, they often pause andbegin a short period of reflection.Then, more often than not, one ofthe first names that springs fromtheir mouths is that of a teacher.Sports hold a special place in thehearts of our nation and some ofour best coaches have becomealmost mythical figures. Think ofVince Lombardi, Casey Stengel or“Red” Auerbach. They are consideredgreat men and great coaches.Of course, at the essence of anygood coach is a teacher. They musteducate their players and then pushthem to achieve great things. Insports, great things are achieved onthe field or court. In life, teachershelp youngsters to achieve theirgoals in a multitude of areas – in anoffice, in a courtroom, in a hospitalor perhaps in a classroom, wherethe splendid cycle is able to repeatitself.The National Teacher AppreciationDay will come back aroundnext year during the first full weekof May. Instructors will again belauded, and that’s as it should be.Though patience is a virtue – andI’m sure I learned that lesson froma teacher – some things shouldn’thave to wait.Find a teacher. Say thank you.Learn how good that can make everyonefeel, yourself included.