To all of the people who serve in our schools, I see you.
You are reproductions of the Statue of Liberty for each neighborhood, town, city, county. Just as Emma Lazarus writes in her poem adorning the statue’s pedestal, “From her beacon-hand / Glows world-wide welcome,” you are little replicas of that beacon in your community. Like Lady Liberty, you proclaim, "Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” and add to that list children of all abilities, all financial means, all cultures, all religions, all races, all families. All.
Like the Lady of the Harbor, I see you lifting your “lamp beside the golden door!" You provide conditions, knowledge, and skills that give all children more options and opportunities for their lives so that they may “breathe free.” Your work continues the visions of Horace Mann who visited 1000 schools to provide quality and equality in all of his state’s schools and Frederick Douglass who proclaimed that education is the key that opens doors. Your work bolsters the safety, innovation, upkeep, and spirit of our communities. Your work provides hope.
I see you bringing people together. You embody the spirit of Justice Thurgood Marshall’s words, “Unless our children begin to learn together, there is little hope that our people will ever learn to live together.” In your microcosm of our community, you teach children how to tackle challenges, manage conflict, and communicate clearly. You are the consistent presence amidst shouts of victory and tears of defeat. You are the consistent presence when confidence falls and confusion rises and then again when confidence rises and confusion falls. You weather the ebb and flow of children’s lives for the sake of society.
I see you making investments in your students knowing that the dividends will never belong to you but to the entire community. You pour yourself into the students who walk through your doors and nurture them until their final day of their final year of school. You have a vision that all children can learn and grow and achieve, so you work and work and work. You are determined to help them positively contribute to their communities not only in the future but also right now.
So, to all of the people who serve in our schools, I see you, and I thank you.
