Appreciation, part 2

Remember that post I wrote about Appreciation?

As the school year wraps up, I come back to that again.  See, we have this week, and then finals, and then we're done.  Yay summer!

I've been receiving gifts from students and reading the cards.  One common line that I see in all of them is something along the lines of, "Thank you so much for being a beacon of sanity in the madness that is this school," or "Thank you for making this year bearable."  Yes, these are actual lines from student cards.

I found these cards exciting but also sad.  Exciting because I did my job well (yay!!!).  Sad because one teacher and one class should not make your school day "bearable."  There should be no need to make school "bearable."

Tuesday was also the day that I saw a colleague that I don't normally see.  She, a Spanish Teacher, told me that she and another Spanish teacher had a meeting with the Superintendent about Latin.  The Superintendent evidently expressed the opinion that SHE thought Foreign languages were important--it was the Assistant Superintendent who didn't like them.  My colleague was beside herself.  No one in Central Office had appreciated that one of her students had been the highest scorer in Massachusetts on the National Spanish Exam.  No one.

My colleague told me that the Central Office Folks are so insincere and unappreciative.  Even if you teach Science and Math (the "important" subjects), they don't appreciate you.  But Foreign Language, my colleague said, is the ugly stepchild.  And yet, we are expected to come into school every day with a sincere smile.

So, I got to thinking:  We make the school "bearable" for the students.  Who makes it "bearable" for us?  Is that our poor Admin's job?   How can we make school "bearable" for the students if we aren't appreciated?