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Teacher Shopping A Different Perspective
Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 9:50AM By June Capossela Kempf
Last week, I went school shopping with my teacher friend; Jeanne. She was purchasing an array of supplies for her students. She filled up her shopping cart with pencils, markers, crayons, decorated folders and poster boards - then threw in tissues boxes and hand sanitizers: Next she went to the appliance department and bought two standing fans for the classroom.
“Doesn’t the school provide some of these supplies? “
“Usually, the parents are sent a list a few weeks before school starts and they purchase most of them. but…”
“Oh,” I interrupted. “I guess they don’t all complete the list. Are you reimbursed?”
She smiled, and then informed me that this is something most teachers do pro-bono, “…because some families can’t afford to complete that list.
“What about fundraisers - the PTA?”
“Being poor doesn’t mean they’ve lost their sense of pride or dignity. It’s humiliating to ask for help. Most of them are underprivileged through no fault of their own. When that list arrives at their homes, it strikes a hard blow to their budgets. A lot of kids come to school without the materials they need to learn. Sometimes they become targets for bullying.”
“What about those fans? Surely you are not springing for them.”
I know the classrooms are not air-conditioned, but with global warming, they are stifling hot boxes through most of the spring and fall seasons. I know that Jeannie sent scores of kids to the nurses’ office last spring with heat exhaustion. I know that this condition is not conducive to learning or teaching.
“Well, I benefit from those fans too…so.” She shrugged.
For an instant, I felt ashamed because admittedly, I once took part in a teacher bashing rage. Thought they got too much and worked too little… I was very vocal in my ignorance and all the counter arguments against my point of view fell on deaf ears. It took the quiet example set by my friend, Jeanne, to open my mind.
“Oh,” I said. “I never really understood or recognized how many extras you teachers do for your students.”
Later, when I helped Jeanne into her house, with boxes filled with supplies, I realized what a noble, unselfish act of kindness I just witnessed. I saw that my friend’s teaching skills extended far beyond the environs of the classroom. Today she taught me a lesson that I feel obliged to share with the entire community: Don’t judge until you walked a mile in someone else’s shoes.
As we parted company she thanked me for helping her, but I knew in my heart that it was she I should thank and all her dedicated colleagues who walk that extra mile, unnoticed and unappreciated.
I came away from Jeanne with a renewed respect for the profession I had once scorned, and a resolve to stop the next teacher I meet to thank him/or her for their service.
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