Teachers have a lot of responsibilities, from instructing classes to overseeing the welfare of students and guiding future generations, and Teacher Appreciation Week is about celebrating their work.

“I had a science teacher that would always help me with my math homework, even though he wasn’t my math teacher,” said West Marshall High School social studies teacher Tony Harrington. “So, kind of that selfless thing; I recognized that and that’s something I wanted to give back.”

For Miller Middle School eighth grade literacy teacher Lindsey Roberts, it was an experience in college that set her on the education path.

“During my senior year of high school I debated between teaching and graphic design; I had the opportunity to be a teacher’s aide in a kindergarten classroom,” she said. “I absolutely loved seeing the look on the students’ faces when they grasped a concept, I ended up spending more time in their room and skipping my study hall because it was my favorite part of the day.”

That “Ah-ha!” look on children’s faces is also rewarding for Franklin Elementary School kindergarten teacher Amy Phillips.

“They get excited about learning; when things finally click for them, you can see it on their face that they understand and it kind of makes it worth all the trouble,” she said.

Both Phillips and Roberts said they wanted to become teachers when they were kids.

Different age groups come with different experiences for teachers.

“I love teaching middle schoolers because it’s not just about the content,” Roberts said. “My students are going through so much, discovering who they are (and) I love to help them navigate that this time.”

Harrington said no matter how difficult or easy a day in the classroom is, he always goes home optimistic about the future.

“I kind of wake up and I come here and I go to school, and then every two weeks money magically appears in my bank account … when I’m here, I never really get the sense that I’m at work,” he said. “I can always tell people in the older generations that they can have faith that there are a lot of really sharp kids out there.”

No career comes without challenges, and teaching at any age level can come with many.

“I think the fact that a lot of kindergartners just aren’t ready to do academics yet; we have such high expectations for our academics,” Phillips said of one challenge for her students. “A lot of them didn’t go to preschool, and yet they come to school and they have to be ready to learn.”

She also said many of her students come to school hungry in the morning, which negatively impacts learning. However, she added the district’s free breakfasts have helped reduce the problem.

Additionally, Phillips said helping the children build social skills, like sharing and sitting still during class time, are challenging but necessary.

“A challenge that teachers often face is getting the students to show initiative and ownership of their education,” Roberts said of teaching at the middle school level. “If I want a thorough assessment of my students, that means that I will be spending more hours grading; it’s a trade-off, but I try to do what I think is best for my students to understand the content.”

Harrington said many teachers work above and beyond their contract hours for the good of their students.

“There are plenty of times I’ve been hanging out in my room at 8, 9, or 10 o’clock at night trying to figure out seating arrangements,” he said.

All three teachers said they were thankful for the gratitude shown toward them during Teacher Appreciation Week.

“It’s nice to have the community aware of what a hard job it really is, so anything that recognizes that it is a lot of hard work, and we do it because we care about the kids, is important for them to know,” Phillips said.

Harrington said it’s nice to have the week of recognition and, in his case, the donuts that came with it. However, he said he feels appreciated every day he comes to school, and shared an experience from earlier this week as an example.

“I was walking into the school and the FFA students were leaving, and I had a van full of kids just waving at me and smiling,” he said. “That’s appreciation, day in and day out.”

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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com