All of my grandparents were teachers. My mother’s father worked for the US Department of Agriculture as his professional career, but he taught me how to fish so I’m counting him as a teacher.
The other three out of four were all classroom teachers in the most traditional sense and (my estimation) of the highest caliber. Although I was not in their classrooms as a pupil, I certainly experienced all of them as a student of what they had to show me. It is because of my gold-standard grandparents that I have some idea how to be a grandparent. I am beyond grateful for that knowledge.
The adage is that “education” is everything you learn outside of the classroom. It is what you take forward with you after school’s out – what you internalize. I have found that to be true in my life in a dozen different ways.
All parents are teachers. We’re the ones who help you learn how to use a spoon, how to whistle and how to wipe correctly. We teach our very young children that the ritual of bedtime reading is more about the ritual of winding down from the day to the sound of a person who loves you than it is about the story in a book.
We try to teach by example that tantrums don’t get results and it is never ok to bite your brother, that “please” and “thank you” have mystical powers and that while we all make mistakes, “I’m sorry” is equally essential.
Daycare providers deserve near equal billing in the earliest years, though they do have the advantage that everyone else is taking a nap, so… your reluctant three-year-old might as well just go along.
At school-age time, with our hearts in our throats, we hand our children over to their kindergarten teachers and then years pass in the blink of an eye. We’re quickly adjusting to middle school, then high school.
The thing about teachers is… the good ones could teach elephants a thing or two about memory and how to put it to its highest use. The fine art of remembering individual people and their particular stories is a fantastical superpower that teachers commonly have and most of us simply marvel at.
And it doesn’t stop there. These people are born managers and leaders. They remember you, your parents, and what sports you played (well or poorly). They remember the talents you had in school, discovered or not, and they care about what you’re doing after school is done. They’re pulling for you to build a good life, not just get an “A” in their class.
Since the 25th reunion of my high school class, I’ve been fortunate to be back in touch with one of my favorite teachers, Jan Glitzenstein (“The Glitz,” most of us called her) and she has been as gracious and giving as she was when I was showing off in her poetry class in the mid-1970’s.
When a family event brought her to Chapel Hill, we got together for a couple of hours. She met my husband and my younger son, who got some great material about his mother, the class clown. It was glorious.
We’re in such a difficult time in sending kids to school later this month. Should they wear masks? Yes, I think they should. Kids put a high value on life with their friends. They want and need the collective experience of school and taking the masking action to help protect each other is everything we want our kids to take away from school. Schools have not hesitated to dictate that girls cannot wear spaghetti strapped tops to school. How about if we simply add mask-wearing to school dress codes for this year? Let’s not overthink it. Lives are at stake.
Hold hands (and wash ‘em). Stay in line. Wait your turn. Respect each other’s space. Wear your mask. It’s a good place to start.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97-9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines