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Editor’s Note: For the eighth year, Google for Education has partnered with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to support educators nationwide through the annual National Teacher of the Year Program. In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, 2024 National Teacher of the Year Missy Testerman from Tennessee shares an open letter to her fellow educators.
Dear teachers,
I don’t remember much about the first classrooms I was in. I’m sure there were desks and I know there were crayons. But what I do remember are the teachers — Mrs. Rhymer, Miss Guggisburg, Mrs. Stooksbury, and Mrs. Long — and how they made me feel. These teachers nurtured and motivated me to not only learn the content they taught, they gave me a model for who I wanted to be.
My teachers taught me the value of dignity. As teachers, we offer dignity for our students when we “stand in the gap” each day. When we listen to our students and show them a path, or when we notice what they need and remove a barrier to achieve it, we create a “pass through” from where they are to who they can become. This can be sending a bag of food home over a long weekend, helping a family locate a counselor for a teen struggling with depression, or a snack for a student headed to football practice. Most of the time, these little acts of noticing and acting go unseen by most, but to the student whose dignity is restored because of it, respect is established, trust is built, and their potential is brought to life.