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Thursday, May 18, 2000 The Southern Cross, Page 5 A s we were driving down the road, my friend pointed out a sign on a gift shop window. It read ‘“Thank you, Teacher’ Gifts, all under $5.99.” We laughed about the message implied in such an ad: “Here’s a trinket in gratitude for the treasure of an edu cation.” Surely, most teachers don’t choose their profession because of its tangible rewards. In the teaching field, presents and paychecks are notoriously meager. Many bright and talented individuals who would love to teach choose careers outside education because more lucrative opportunities are avail able to them. It’s been said that many students who major in education are academically weak, and they choose teaching by default. While that may be true in some cases, I’m convinced that most young people who decide to teach do so out of a strong desire to make a difference. Many still remember the profound effect teachers had on their lives. They believe in the nobility of the profession and are willing to make the necessary sacrifices in order to pursue what they value and love. Call me naive, but I retain a idealistic impres sion of teachers and their dedication. When you consider all the challenges teachers face, in addi tion to the abuse many of them must endure reg ularly, you have to wonder what, besides pro found dedication to their profession and a com mitment to their students, keeps them motivated to show up for work each day. With four school-age children, attending ele- Letters (Continued from page 4) peared in The Southern Cross on March 23. The piece was forwarded to me by Dr. Edward Cashin of Au gusta State University, who is Dick Reid’s nephew. The Cashins for warded copies to all of our family. Needless to say, her work brought back cherished memories to all of us. Though bom and raised in New England, Daddy developed very deep roots in Augusta. He was ded icated to his work there. His family had moved there from Winchester, Massachusetts, and the O’Leary's, Mother’s family, were “native” Augustans. All of his children were bom there and there one was taken away (Kathleen), lost as a baby to childhood disease. Mother and Daddy always referred to Augusta as home and so many of the names in your article are familiar to me (The Bulletin, The Chronicle, The Herald, Hugh Kinchley, Alfred Battey, The Catholic Laymen’s Association, Bishop O’Hara and others). Both Mother and Daddy are laid to rest in Westover Memo rial Park, one on each side of their baby Kathleen. Everyday Graces Thank you, teachers mentary, middle, and high schools, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to witness teachers in action. While I haven’t agreed with everything that’s occurred in my chil dren’s classrooms and schools, I admit that I don’t always have the answers, and I believe in giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt. It seems to me that if more parents were to adopt such an attitude, we’d all be better off. Yet there’s something about educa tion, particularly in the lower grades, that makes parents think they are as knowledgeable as the teachers. As a result, there’s often a profound lack of respect among parents for the authority of the teacher and his or her classroom decisions. Either through ignorance or arrogance, some par ents do everything in their power to undermine the teacher’s authority and manipulate classroom mles to their own children’s advantage. I have actually known parents to complain to the school superintendent about an issue as benign as a teacher assigning “too much” homework. There’s no question in my mind, that despite all the negative attention they receive, our teach ers are performing amazingly well under very challenging circumstances. I’m also convinced that students’ poor test scores and poor perfor mance can more often be linked to weaknesses within their homes and communities than to weaknesses within classrooms. That said, I believe in holding teachers to the highest stan dards of excellence. But we’ll fail in attempts to do so until we esteem their positions and pay them accordingly. In the meantime, parents can be supportive of their children’s teachers by adopting a spirit of cooperation and trust, by not expecting teachers to bend rules for your child’s sake, and by realiz ing it’s not always necessary that you and your child’s teacher see eye to eye. Parents must also recognize that teachers are human beings. Facing a classroom of 25 or more vivacious (to put it nicely) youngsters for hours at a stretch can fraz zle even the most loving and patient among us. The contributions a good teacher makes to a student’s life can never be fully identified. But judging from the gifts teachers have brought to my children’s lives, I can name a few: Mrs. G. has taught the importance of courtesy, commit ment, and integrity, as well as how to write a thorough, polished report. Mrs. R. has taught how to find humor everywhere, how to respect fully question authority, and how to thoughtfully explore C. S. Lewis’s novel, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Mrs. L. has taught the advan tages of teamwork, brainstorming, learning through trial and error, not to mention how to find the value of x. Now that the school year is coming to a close, after we’ve helped our children select tokens of appreciation for teachers, parents would do well to ponder the gifts our children have received over the last nine months. If we do, we will sure ly acknowledge our profound gratitude to the teachers who bestowed them. Mary Hood Hart lives with her husband and * 3 four children in Sunset Beach, N.C. 1 I benefited so much from the sacrifi cial efforts that built and maintained our Catholic school system, should now be so well founded in the faith that they can be sent forth as a leav en and Catholic witness within the population of our public schools rather than continue to be nurtured in a protected environment. This would free up much needed personnel and resources to tend to the social and educational needs of our newly arriving immigrants. Sadly, however, we Catholics tend to continue fattening up the already fat cats, and leave Lazarus and his children to be satisfied with the crumbs from our table. The mandate of the Lord still sounds forth strong and clear: “Go forth to teach the nations.” While not turning our back on our own, we are to love our neighbor, not only as we love ourselves, but as Christ Jesus himself loves them. His heart always seems to have a special place for those most in need. Rev. Michael H. Smith, V.F. Pastor, Holy Redeemer Church, McRae and Saint Mark, Eastman, Coordinator of Hispanic Ministry We thank her for this fine and thoughtful remembrance of our father and his work. We especially appreciate the fact that we can share these memories with his grandchil dren and great-grandchildren so the they can know the kind of man he was and the work that he did. Tom Reid East Hampton, New York *** Dear Editor: Thank you for the article about my Dad, Frank Rossiter, in the April issue of The Southern Cross. Mrs. DeLorme sounded like she knew my Dad. He was one of the finest men I have ever known. Your paper was published on April 27— appropriately it is my Mother’s and my birthday. It was a wonderful birthday present. We still miss him very much. Sue Rossiter Homans Savannah *** On Catholic Schools Dear Editor: In recent years our Governors have begun to speak of “two Georgia’s”—one prosperous and well educated, the other frequently lacking in resources and quality schools. I think that within our state we also have two Catholic churches. The church within our urban cen ters is generally well established and expanding its Catholic schools. These schools are now beginning to educate the grandchildren and great grandchildren of the original emi grants for which they were estab lished. Meanwhile, a new wave of most ly Latino Catholic emigrants is pouring into the rural areas of our state, as well as into the poorer and peripheral parts of our cities. These people and their children are as much in need of help to adjust to a new culture and language, and maintain their Catholic faith in this very different and heavily Protestant environment, as were our forebears. If we are to be true to our her itage and are in tune with the heroic pioneers of Catholic education in this land, who would be the target of our educational services now? It would seem to me that the chil dren and grandchildren who have Mary Hood Hart