It’s been pretty fun over the past few months to visit schools, but particularly fun to visit schools where the teachers are our friends. There is something eye opening about seeing your friends interacting with and shaping our future. Today was such a day. We visited St. Thomas School in Keswick where our friend Roslyn Deegan teaches Kindergarten and Alcona Glen P.S this afternoon with Brenda Hotton who teaches grade 8. Both are friends from our former days at YMCA Wanakita in Haliburton.

Some people aren’t cut out to work with students day in and day out. There is usually much to be said about teachers who are overworked and undervalued. But the friends I see who have decided to take the path of going into the classroom to teach deserve some major high fives! Teachers not only teach… they are counselors and they are mediators. They are filled with both empathy and sympathy. Their people skills need to be top notch, particularly on parent nights! They are caring, giving, generous and understanding. They consistently bring their work home. For some, they become politicians, having to learn the intricacies of their particular school boards and admin. They are mentors, role models and heroes for the hundreds of students that pass through their classroom. They have the ability to shape and mold students from mediocrity to greatness. Teachers enable students to find their strengths and to work on their weaknesses. I am thankful for all the friends I have who are classroom teachers. They make the world a better place by making the students in their classrooms better people.