[Porsche-O-Phile]

Very cool! Teaching is one of the most undervalued and underappreciated vocations out there. I often cite an interesting study done a few years ago by Pew that looked at the effectiveness of educational systems worldwide and what they had in common. The two top performing systems (South Korea and Sweden IIRC) were vastly different - about as different as could be, perplexing researchers until someone figured out a way to measure how valued teachers were culturally and how much or little they were held in high esteem. Virtually all top-performing nations / systems were in cultures with a sincere respect for teachers, which compensated them well and supported them with positive, healthy work environments, recurrent training, retention programs, bonuses, etc.

The point is we all need to understand and appreciate people who are truly dedicated to teaching our kids - and support them and thank them. I have two close relatives that are middle school teachers at a top-ranked charter school back on the east coast so I hear a lot of “the good, the bad and the ugly” about it. It’s no picnic and a sincere “thank you” and respect to those who do it and do it well.

Congratulations to her and here’s wishing many more years of enjoyable and successful teaching - she’s touching lives in a meaningful and positive way. I hope she stays with it. Bravo!