“Ms. R was a kindergarten educator for 28 years. Recently, I learned that she passed away in 2009. She was a joyful practitioner. At age 5, I thought that this person, who lived around the corner from me and had a small garden filled with frog-themed statuary, had been a teacher for many, many years. She used puppets to teach us the alphabet and created a life-size witch—or so I thought. I was small, and perhaps the witch was too, but it seemed large at the time, yet not at all imposing. We were mesmerized as Ms. R used wire and modeling clay to fill out the witch's features and enrobe her in a black cloak. Later on, I would have a complicated perspective of school, but this first experience was alive and filled me with wonder and excitement each day. I thank Ms. R for her inventiveness and infectious interest in learning. I'm grateful to the early childhood educators who make young children's first exposure to learning in a classroom a joyful experience.” 

—Shabrayle Setliff, Associate Editor, Periodicals 

“When my cautious, slow-to-warm 2-year-old started child care last summer, her teachers, Jenni and Judith, were so supportive and patient with her through the transition. They quickly gained her trust and empowered her to warm up to the other kiddos and engage in group play at her own pace. As a working mom, it’s so comforting to know that Nora feels safe and loved with her teachers every day. Over this past year, Jenni and Judith have been great partners through all of the milestones, from completing speech therapy to bringing home baby sister. We are so thankful for great teachers like them to help us navigate parenthood and toddlerhood!” 

—Maria Estlund, State Policy Specialist 

“I was in elementary school, and I remember picking out a bright pink coat from Goodwill to wear to school. It had a few holes and imperfections but overall was warm for winter. I was really excited about the color and to wear it to school during recess. But when I went to school with my coat, I got made fun of by what felt like my whole class and a few older kids. After that, I just wore my school sweater outside. I didn't tell my teachers I was being made fun of, and I definitely didn't tell my mom. I just kept it to myself because that's who I was: A very quiet child. Mrs. S, a teacher's aide from another class, gifted me her daughter's coat randomly after this. Her daughter was a few grades older than I was. It was a crisp white coat with a purple Nike logo on the back. I wore that coat every winter until I outgrew it. Once I got older and became an educator, I wanted to be one of those teachers  who noticed, like Mrs. S. Someone who noticed and cared for even the one quiet kid in the class.” 

—Mary Samour, Online Community Manager 

“My youngest child didn't talk. He didn't babble as a baby; he didn't mimic words as a toddler. He communicated through a series of grunts and gestures, which was fine . . . until it wasn't. Once he understood that language was essential to expressing his wants and needs, he physically could not talk. The tongue is a muscle, and his was flaccid. Speech and language professionals told us he might never be able to speak. But the SLP assigned to him at age 3 refused to accept that diagnosis. For 10 years, Ms. Alissa worked with my son almost daily. She created activities built around his interests. She gave him strategies for expressing thoughts in different ways. She liaised with his classroom teachers so that they knew how to ask him to repeat himself without embarrassing him. (She even stepped in during middle school—after he had been released from his IEP—when a teacher said my son was "exhibiting attitude" with his monotone conversational style.) She supported me to know how to support him. Ms. Alissa became an integral part of our family and is the reason my son speaks today.” 

—Susan Donsky, Managing Editor, Periodicals 

“I was 5 years old when I started first grade with Mrs. G as my teacher. I arrived in the US not knowing English, and by the end of the school year, I was on par with my peers. Mrs. G was patient and persistent, and she encouraged my mother to continue speaking to us, my sister and me, in Spanish at home while we were immersed with English at school. There were no ESL programs back then. I am now bilingual thanks to my teachers: Mrs. G and my mother.” 

—Israel Rodriguez, Senior Customer Care Associate