Teacher Appreciation Week

     The week of May 7-11 has been designated as Teacher Appreciation Week. I ask parents, students, and community members to take the time to let our teachers here at Sunray High School and throughout Sunray ISD know that we think they are doing a great job and we appreciate them. When I a teacher, many people jokingly told me what an “easy” eight-to-four, summers off, nine-month job we teachers had. Sometimes it might seem that way to someone not in the educational field or a loved one in education. However, teaching is not just an eight-to-four, summers off, nine-month job. The teachers at Sunray High School work hours well beyond that magic number of eight. I see staff members walk out of the building most days with stacks of papers to grade – at home. They serve on committees that keep them at school several days during the school year and several days in the summer. They attend workshops and college classes on Saturdays and during the summer months always trying to keep up with the newest development in teaching methods, curriculum, materials, and state assessments. They leave their families during the evening hours to attend ballgames, UIL contests, banquets, and concerts. Most important, many days they are at school early and stay late giving our student that one-on-one help they need to do homework, pass the STAAR, or bring up failing grades. The thing that impresses me about the majority of these teachers is they do this willingly. Why? They do it because they care about the students in our community and they want to make a difference. Therefore, I hope you will take the time to drop a teacher a note. Tell him/her that you appreciate what they have done for your child or for the children in our community.