Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

 

What a great Teacher Appreciation Week. I thank our parent community for doing and saying something we should say more often – and more loudly: thank you to our teachers.

 

Teaching is not just a profession. It is a calling. Our teachers are the architects of future possibilities. They are mentors, role models, counselors, and guides. They notice the student who's having a hard day. They cheer on the one who didn't think they could succeed. They show up, again and again, with creativity and care – even when they're tired, even when the work feels unseen.

 

You may ask – why just one week? Why not celebrate teachers every week?

 

That’s a good question. The truth is, we should. Appreciation doesn’t belong to a calendar – it belongs to a culture. And while this week gives us a moment to say it publicly and intentionally (and what a great job you as parents and volunteers of our GPG have done), real appreciation is shown in how we support our teachers all year long – in our trust, in how we listen, and in how we work in partnership with our teachers. This is where I thank you parents as well – working in true partnership with our teachers all year long. GISC thrives within a culture of teacher appreciation.

 

I realize I am preaching to the choir when I emphasize the importance of a great education – but please allow me to convey a sense of how German poets and thinkers ("Das Land der Dichter und Denker") think about education and the responsibility we entrust to our teachers:

 

"Man is nothing but what education makes of him." "Der Mensch ist das, was die Erziehung aus ihm macht." – Immanuel Kant

 

"Man is what he should be as a human being only through education." "Der Mensch ist, was er als Mensch sein soll, erst durch Bildung." – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

 

 

With warm regards,

 

Ben Hebebrand

GISC Director