© 2024 WNIJ and WNIU
Northern Public Radio
801 N 1st St.
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-9000
Northern Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Perspective: Let Them Know You Appreciate Them

Pixabay

Sometimes, small gestures can have a huge impact. That was the case recently, when I found a message in my Twitter inbox from a student I had taught almost forty years ago, when he was a fifth grader. Ironically, the message came after he heard one of my Perspectives. He is now a teacher himself, and that made his message even more gratifying.

It is common for teachers, as they approach the final years of their life here on Earth, to wonder if anything they did made even a small difference to anyone. Though my years of actual classroom teaching were, unfortunately, few in number, I too have often thought about those young people I once taught.

Years ago, after learning that my own sixth grade teacher had terminal cancer, I reached out to her through a letter and received a gracious written reply.

Please think about this: If you are middle-aged, many of your own former teachers will be in or approaching their senior years. If one of them influenced you, even in a small way, making that former teacher aware of his or her influence will brighten that individual's day. I know, because that unexpected Twitter message absolutely brightened mine.

I'm Jim Kline, and that is my Perspective.

Related Stories