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Merry Christmas and Thank You: An Open Letter to Kentucky's K-12 Teachers

 Dear Teacher,

It's nearly winter break. We here at the Kentucky Faith & Public History Education Project wish every Kentucky teacher a blessed holiday season. We want you to know that we value what you do and that we understand that your job is not about the paycheck. It's truly about the students. It takes commitment and sacrifice. We want to take this opportunity to thank you.  You more than deserve the recognition and the honor.

Many of you keep a warm coat in the trunk of your car for when you have bus duty at the end of the day and the temperature has dropped 20 degrees since you left your house before it was light. You probably have spent several recent evenings preparing to delight your students with a holiday surprise before winter break. You routinely spend your own money to make sure your classroom has enough paper, pencils, crayons and other essential supplies so that every student can learn. Many have made it a personal mission to provide a safe environment for those students who have no other consistently safe place at home. You agonize over how to reach the students whose learning is interrupted by memories of past and present trauma. You often forgive unwarranted abusive looks, slurs, accusations and outright disrespect from students and parents alike. You constantly have to navigate the shifting mandates for what and how you must teach that doesn't take into account whether your students speak English yet, have learning disabilities, are gifted and bored with the typical pace of the curriculum, or came into the year working several grades below level. And all that was your habitual practice before the pandemic. Over the past nearly two years your job has become even more unpredictable, nearly impossible, or down-right dangerous. You prepare to teach in-person today only to discover that the school will be delivering nontraditional instruction so you must reconfigure your lesson plans for virtual delivery in an instant. Some of your students are sick, dying or otherwise falling through the cracks. Some of you feel that you are at risk for similar outcomes. 

Let this short letter insist that you are not forgotten. You are not invisible. You are not expendable or replaceable. You are important. We are grateful for what you have chosen to do with your life and for our children, for all the children of Kentucky and beyond. Most people don't see how much this calling to teach and this commitment to serve each child costs, but we recognize that it has been expensive.  

It's Christmas time. You have a few days off to breathe and celebrate with your loved ones. Enjoy it. Rest up and get ready for the new year whatever it may bring. 

Thank you and Merry Christmas,

The Kentucky Faith & Public History Education Project

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