It’s National Teacher’s Day! Celebrate the special teacher in your life today, and show them appreciation. Students can show appreciation for their teachers with small gifts – or good behavior. I’m sure teachers everywhere would appreciate either one. The National Education Association describes National Teacher Day as “a day for honoring teachers and recognizing the lasting contributions they make to our lives”.

Teachers make a difference; they show up to work every day and make sure that their students have the skills and education they need. It’s often a thankless job; the pay is low, and the stress is high. They deserve a day of their own, and I for one am glad that they have it. I think I’d be a much different person – a lesser one – without the quality teachers I have been privileged to know. They often pay for supplies out of their own pockets, and the good ones go the extra mile to make sure that their students have what they need in their classrooms.

I’ve had so many wonderful teachers in my life, and it’s hard to pick out just one who made a difference. My first grade teacher inspired a lifelong love of reading and curiosity in me, and I thank her forever for that. There’s my fifth grade teacher, who bought school pictures for my family and gave them to us as a gift when my father was laid off work. There was my high school English teacher, who encouraged and inspired me to choose a career path that fulfilled me instead of one that I was expected to take. Or how about my college art teacher, who told me I had a great ‘eye’ and predicted that one day my home would be full of great art, some of it created by me. It’s hard to pick just one and I don’t know that I can (or would even want to), so I’m appreciating all teachers today instead, and realizing that without them, I would not be where I am today.

What are you doing for the teachers in your life today? Are you getting them a gift? Are you telling them what they mean to you? We at Stockngo believe they deserve some sort of recognition, even if it’s just a smile.

Do you have a special teacher in your history that made a difference in your life? Tell us about them, and let us know what they’ve done for you.