Teacher/Staff appreciation week has been declared by the Saskatchewan government as Feb. 12-18.
This is something to be celebrated.
Everyone has that favourite teacher that taught them something that changed their live or a lesson that has stuck with them until now.
I knew from the start of university that I would never be a teacher, the reasons of which I will not go into.
Knowing this limitation on myself, I cannot fathom a world without the amazing teachers that we have in the area.
Not that there is not room for improvement, especially when it comes to LGBTQ students and dealing with mental health within the schools, but I have a great respect for all teachers.
Having to spend the whole day with kids whether they are 5, 10, or 15 is the equivalent of wrangling a handful of espresso loaded squirrels.
We seem to have it lucky in the Horizon School Division according to Education Director, Kevin Garinger.
In teacher to student ratio, Horizon school division is sitting fourth in the province, next to much smaller school divisions.
To be bumped down to fifth, Garinger says they would have to eliminate 25 teaching positions. To get below the provincial average, they would have to eliminate 75.
How many teachers across the province are just overwhelmed by the number of students they would have to teach on a daily basis?
This just does not include class time but also lesson planning, supervision responsibilities, grading assignments, and extra curricular duties that they willingly take on.
It is not only about the work they put in to craft young minds, especially in cases where parents refuse or do not have the time to take partial responsibility for their children’s education, but also the barriers they have to go through to do it.
How many hours do teachers put into extra-curricular activities for their students with very little appreciation from the students and their parents?
Parents themselves can act as a barrier for teachers.
I saw a comic one time comparing teaching in the 1950s to teaching now.
In the 1950 panel, the low mark is blamed on the student. In the present day panel, the low mark is blamed on the teacher.
Teachers that I have talked to re-interate that this mentality makes dealing with parents the worst part of their job.
Can we give our teachers more credit for what they do?
Unfortunately education is a prime target when budget season rolls around.
Premier Brad Wall has already singled out education, as well as health care, as possible money saving industries.
Garinger says that unfortunately on March 22, every money saving possibility is on the table which could spell even worse conditions for teachers in divisions like Prairie Spirit who have already gone through cuts back in 2016.
Unfortunately, saying that we appreciate teachers and actually appreciating teachers is two different things.
