Indiana PTA says thank you during Teacher Appreciation Week
05/10/2017

This week, the National Education Association, National PTA, Indiana PTA and ISTA are celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week. This is a time to honor and recognize the outstanding contributions of teachers. Indiana PTA President Theresa Distelrath shares her thoughts during Teacher Appreciation Week – why teachers matter, how you can help and how Indiana PTA says thank you. 

This week, #ThankATeacher on social media – whether it’s a teacher that inspired you or your kids. Make sure they know you appreciate them. 

I have been a part of PTA for the past fifteen years, since my oldest son started kindergarten. I wanted to become a part of an association or group that would allow me to learn the school climate and community and to develop great relationships with one of our most important partners – our teachers. I learned very quickly as a young mom how much our teachers give to our students and to our schools – the countless supplies, resources, books and extra hours they provide without hesitation.  

I also learned over the years that teaching is a selfless profession where they are very rarely thanked, and in most cases, they are blamed for the deficiencies or failures in the schools. As parents, it’s easy to push the blame on a teacher instead of taking on some of the responsibilities as a parent. We need to remember that we are also just as responsible! As parents, if we don’t do our part how can we expect our teachers to be successful? 

We also need to make sure our teachers feel valued, appreciated and most important given all the necessary resources to be successful. How many professions ask their workers to perform a job or task but are not given all the necessary tools to do the job. As a mechanic, can you repair a car if you don’t have the right tools?  As parents, we want to share our voice with our community and our policymakers demanding that our teachers and public schools receive all the necessary resources they need to ensure a successful education for our youth.   

As a PTA, we also always want to acknowledge and show our appreciation for our teachers every day, and Teacher Appreciation Week provides us with an opportunity to showcase how much they mean to us. What I have loved over the years is that no matter what local unit I belonged to, no matter how much money we had or didn’t have we always made it a priority to acknowledge our teachers. While at my high school PTSA, we always provide a special breakfast. We also take a day to share small items including special notes. We provide coffee, treats, snacks and always try to brighten up the staff lounge. We want to create a warm, inviting and comfortable place where our teachers and staff can escape, even if just for a moment.  

Teacher Appreciation Week is one of my favorite times of the year, because we get to spoil our teachers and show them how much they mean to us. I would however challenge all our parent groups to show our teachers every day that we care, that we are invested and that they are not alone. One very specific way you can show a teacher you care is to share your voice with a legislator and demand that our schools and teachers receive the appropriate funding and resources to educate our youth.