Sunday, August 19, 2001

Hug a teacher AGAIN!

By REV. JUSTIN KOLLMEYER
Religion Columnist

(Pastor Kollmeyer offers this reprint of one of his previous articles because of the extreme importance of the subject matter - especially as a new school year begins again.)

Back to school. Wow! We blinked and the summer is now gone.

Our kids seem to be excited to be back in school, though, don't they? There's always something wonderful and good about a fresh start and a new year. I'm sure most of our students will thrive and grow and advance in marvelous ways.

But let's remember that it's not only the students who are back in school. It's also the teachers! Ah, the teachers. Champions among us they are! Teachers, principals, administrators and staff. They're all to be thanked and blessed and lifted up. And even hugged. If not physically hugged, at least symbolically.

Teaching ... it's a calling, you know. Not just a job. Oh, there may be a few in their number who milk the system and look out for number one. But those rare exceptions quickly move on from the rigors of education, I'm sure. After all, who would want to be a teacher if it weren't for something deep inside driving and demanding it and blinding the eyes and heart to the hassles, problems, workloads and responsibilities?

Teaching is defined in the dictionary as the task of "imparting knowledge." I like that term "imparting." It demands so much more than "presenting." Show me a teacher who is loved and respected, and I'll show you a teacher who does not simply "present" the material, but who works and schemes and goes every extra mile to "impart" the desired knowledge to the student.

"Imparting" means that the student "gets it"! And the teacher works and slaves long past when the brightest and best students have "gotten it." The teacher perseveres and re-forms the material over and over again until even the "slower" students are "imparted" with the knowledge! Champions, I tell you.

We honor you, teachers. We thank God for you. We bless you. We commend you. We acknowledge your good work. We encourage you to continue your never-ending quest to impart knowledge. To ALL you teachers, principals, administrators and
staff we say, "Have a good year." In fact, "Have a GREAT year!" Remember the truth spoken by an anonymous author long ago: A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in or the kind of clothes I wore, but the world may be much different because I was important in the life of a child.

To the rest of us I say, "Have you hugged a teacher today?"

Kollmeyer is senior pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Fayetteville. This Sunday, Aug. 19, all teachers, administrators, staff and students are invited to one of the three services at Prince of Peace 8, 9:30, 11:15 a.m. for special prayers to begin this new school year.)

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