Most people say a teacher changed their life

Here is the story

I totally agree with this, in fact I think that teachers were the most influential people in my life (outside of my family of course).

I still keep in touch with several of my teachers, my Third Grade Teacher (Miss Hahn), my Music Teacher (Mrs. Trate) when I was in High School and an English Teacher (Mrs. DePoe).

This past year the school district where I live offered early retirement to some of the teachers and Miss Hahn took them up on the offer. She had completed 33 years of teaching school, 33 years of teaching 3rd Graders, 33 years of doing the same thing every year with a new group of kids, and you know what, SHE LOVED IT. She would tell me how great the kids were and how much fun she had, but she knew it was time to get out when she was getting kids of kids she had taught the first time around.

I think that we should pay our teachers the salaries that we give our Sports Players, honestly who has more influence over our kids? A Sports Figure who earns $3.2 million a year or a teacher who earns $35,000 a year?

I cherish my relationships that I still have with my teachers, it's nice to be able to have "adult" conversations with them and to continue to learn from them.