"You are the reason..."
"You are the reason that I come to work everyday."
"You make my day that you are a part of my class."
"You inspire me."
"I appreciate you."
These are the words of teachers from Oak Park High School in North Kansas to the students that they selected as being the reason that they come to work every day. This digital story was inspired by a project to infuse more positivity into the school environment. If you ask any teacher which students they enjoy having the most in their classes, they will without a doubt be able to list a string of names and reasons for why particular students make it worthwhile for them to come to school to teach every day. However, it is often the case that these students don't always know that their appreciated as much of the attention can be redirected to students with ill-behaviors or higher learning needs.
For the last several years of my teaching career, I have taught many different kinds of students from 6th grade all the way up to 12th grade. So many different personalities and needs, but all of them have one thing in common: they just want to know that they are loved and valued. Student status is such an important factor in helping them to succeed, but this can be overlooked with so many other things to attend to in a school day. I work at a school where the culture is all about making students feel like they are worth something to someone. We take time to build meaningful relationships, and work to provide feedback to students that they can use to build up their own confidence levels. I have been in schools where this is not the norm, and so I always feel a bit more hopeful for our youth when I see other schools like mine reaching out to show students that they are valued. A grade on a math test doesn't always mean the world to a student, but telling them that they are important does. Giving students a reason to care is the key to success, and there isn't a grade or assignment that can do this. We should all challenge ourselves to tell someone why we appreciate them, because when we know we are valued, we challenge ourselves to be the best versions of ourselves.