so it’s happened too many times lately
I meet an educator in my community
and I thank them for their work
and their eyes filled with tears
our teachers are not hearing it enough from the people in this chamber
they do not hear or see our appreciation for their incredible hard work
instead what they’ve come to expect is another year of doing more with less
even less than the year before
and new hurdles and impossible expectations
now coming with insults and outright attacks
it’s teacher Appreciation Week
and I wish we could speak with a unified voice in this capital
of our deep gratitude for Iowa educators
but I can share very personally
about what Iowa teachers mean to me and my family
it’s been so hard to be a parent during this pandemic
it was hard for my kids
but our teachers helped us through this time
there’s a teacher
who drove to our house with a big sign to wish my son happy birthday
in the spring of 2020 when we had to cancel his birthday party
the teacher who worked so hard
to make personal connections
with each and everyone of the 32 third graders in his online classroom
and when my kids came back in person to school this year
the music the art
and the physical education teachers
who came up with such engaging and fun curriculum
that my kids couldn’t stop talking about it at the dinner table
and the classroom teachers
who worked so hard
to make sure that our kids were excited to be back in the classroom
in a year that still wasn’t back to normal
and making sure that we knew about
and could celebrate all the wonderful things that they were doing
to all the educators who worked with my children in the last two years
thank you
we knew we weren’t alone in this
that it wasn’t all on us as parents
and that mattered so much
in a time when working parents were just supposed to keep going
no matter how impossible it all felt
to all the teachers thank you for inspiring our children
thank you for letting us know when our kids needed more help or correction
thank you for loving our kids
thank you for caring about them long after they’ve left the classroom
thank you for being really important people in the lives of our children
for all that I will never stop saying thank you