Every May, when testing season’s dragging on and the copier is jammed for the fourth time before lunch, we get this week carved out to celebrate the people keeping the whole thing together: teachers. The calendar calls it Teacher Appreciation Week. And while the PTA might bring muffins and the administration will definitely leave some candy in your mailboxes, this week deserves more than a “thanks” and a cute card.
Let’s be real. The word “appreciation” comes from appretiare meaning “to set a price.” But here’s the truth: you can’t slap a price tag on what teachers do. Not with your Starbucks card, not with your themed cupcakes, not even with a pack of dry erase markers. The work of teaching isn’t transactional. It’s transformational. And it’s time we said that louder.
The Job Description That Was Never on the Job Description
Teaching isn’t just about pacing guides, objectives on the board, and neatly aligned standards. It’s morning greetings that recognize a kid who’s not used to being seen. It’s planning a lesson you know will light them up. It’s after hours conferences on empty stomachs, tutoring during planning, and calming a kid who’s spiraling because life outside your classroom is a mess.
None of that is in the contract. But you do it. Every. Single. Day.
This isn’t just poetic fluff. The research backs it up. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that strong student-teacher relationships actually move the needle: higher graduation rates, stronger long-term success. But let’s be honest, you didn’t need a research brief to know that your connection with your learners matters more than the test prep packet.
Teachers Aren’t Just Teaching; They’re Building Futures (and Catching Falls)
The best teachers I know aren’t just covering content. They’re laying brick. They’re building bridges from who a learner is today to who they could be if someone believed in them long enough to give them space to become. They turn the “I’m not good at this” into “I just haven’t figured it out… yet.” They teach the standards, but they also teach how to come back from failure, how to advocate, how to collaborate, how to show up.
That’s not a job. That’s a calling. And for too long, we’ve tried to measure it in gift cards and candy bars.
The Ripple Is Real
Ask someone about a teacher who changed their life. There’s usually one. Sometimes two. Always a story. It might be the teacher who caught them when they were falling apart. The one who saw them as more than a GPA or a discipline referral. The one who taught them how to write a sentence, but really taught them how to use their voice.
That kind of impact? It doesn’t stay in the classroom. It follows a kid into their home, their career, their parenting. One teacher’s influence gets paid forward for decades. That’s the ripple. That’s the legacy. And no, you can’t measure that on a rubric.
A Week Isn’t Enough But It’s a Start
So here’s my ask. Don’t just say thanks. Don’t just hand over a card and walk away. Ask yourself: What would it look like if we didn’t just appreciate teachers during a designated week, but actually respected them all year long? What would it mean to honor their work not just with gifts, but with voice, time, autonomy, and actual trust?
And to every teacher reading this: You are not invisible. You are not replaceable. You are not just a line item in a school budget or a cog in a system that often forgets to say your name with reverence.
You are the reason a kid comes back tomorrow.
You are the difference between giving up and going again.
You are what’s right in a system that can be wrong about so much.
This week, I hope you get the muffin. But more than that, I hope you remember who you are. You’re the magic. The muscle. The moment that changes everything.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week. You deserve more than we’ve given you, but this? This is saying you are seen. You are appreciated. Far more appreciation to be held in just one short week.
