Excuse me while I give the teachers a shout out

“Everything this year is harder.” A talented Mirowitz teacher said that to me recently.

Let me back up and tell you a bit about our teachers. The educators who join the Mirowitz team share certain qualities. They love children. They love collaborating with smart, passionate colleagues. They love building community and being part of one. They love seeing the satisfaction children feel when they learn something new. They love igniting a flame of curiosity in a child. They love navigating through and finding solutions to  tricky academic and social situations. And they love being your partners in raising your children.

And yet, everything is harder this year. They still love ALL those things, but it’s challenging to do even your dream job during a pandemic. So…excuse me while I give them a shout out!

Thank you, teachers, for teaching in a mask and enduring strained voices and physical exhaustion by each day’s end. Thank you for getting up earlier to prepare so you can greet your students in the classroom at 8 a.m. Thank you for delaying your desire to take a sip of coffee or munch on a snack, so you don’t unmask when children are present. Thank you for replying to emails, preparing newsletters and planning for class with fewer prep periods.

Thank you for the attention you give all of your students in the absence of volunteers who cannot come in the building. Thank you for showing up even when you are afraid of contracting COVID, and for meeting with your colleagues over Zoom instead of in the same room. Thank you for waiting patiently for your turn to receive the vaccine, even though your job requires that you be a front-line worker and spend your days in person with others.

Thank you for being a teacher, and also a rabbi, a parent, a medical professional, a counselor and a leader for your classroom community. It’s clear that you believe so deeply in this holy work, that you pivot as needed and give it your all. You have made Mirowitz possible this year, and the Mirowitz community is grateful beyond measure.

שבת שלום,

Cheryl