One group of people we ought to celebrate as we approach America’s 250th anniversary is our teachers. Collectively, they are a quiet force to reckon with—steadfast, shaping minds and character every single day—yet too often underappreciated.
My Laurel neighborhood is fortunate to have excellent schools, highly rated largely because of great teachers who have taught generation after generation of successful students. Some have happily devoted their entire lives to teaching. Their legacy lives on not only in test scores or diplomas, but in the kind of citizens their students become.
I have deep admiration for teachers in Catholic schools in Laurel and beyond who not only teach solid academic content but also reinforce enduring values: love of God, love of country, love of family, and responsibility to others. These are not “extras.” They are foundational to forming good Americans.
Why teach? Some may ask. Everyone knows nobody gets rich by teaching—except for a rare few extraordinary maestros gifted beyond measure. The majority of teachers barely get by on modest salaries, often spending their own money to provide students with pencils, notebooks, calculators, or quiet encouragement when it’s needed most.
Teaching runs deep in my maternal family. All my aunts—and several cousins—were elementary school teachers. One cousin was even my preschool teacher back when I was too young to be enrolled in a “real” first-grade class. My maternal grandfather was a local college professor of Spanish. A half-Spanish mestizo, he taught himself the language while also serving as the town sheriff. Education, service, and citizenship were never separate in our family; they went hand in hand.
My mother was a natural teacher. She taught home economics at the elementary school I graduated from, back when learning how to cook, sew, arrange flowers, clean properly, and manage a household budget was considered just as important as balancing a chemical equation. She creatively designed the school’s Skill-o-Rama program, elevating homemaking skills and rewarding excellence when it truly mattered. Out of propriety, I did not have her as my sixth-grade teacher—but I was blessed to have her as my teacher for life. She later became the province’s division home economics supervisor, mentoring younger teachers to be the best in their field.
When a person—or a family—chooses to serve a generation by standing with their back to a chalkboard or whiteboard and being a light in someone else’s life, it may be one of the most important decisions anyone can make.
The word education comes from the Latin educare, meaning “to draw out.” A philosophy professor I admired in college once said, “To teach is to prepare one for life.” Not every moment announces itself as a teaching opportunity. But a teacher at heart recognizes each moment as a chance to guide, correct, encourage, or steady a young person who is still figuring things out.
As we prepare for America at 250, we need teachers who do more than cover content. We need teachers who help students understand what it means to belong to this country—who teach respect, responsibility, and love of nation not as slogans, but as daily practice. That kind of teaching doesn’t always show up on a test. Sometimes it shows up years later.