Whether it be in academics or extra curriculars, teachers have become the entry point and point of departure for most students school life. They have formed bonds of friendship, stayed up as late as many students claim to in order grade papers whilst taking care of their own families, spent countless hours preparing lesson plans in order for students to be prepared, upon many other things. However, while Teacher Appreciation Week is upon us teachers are able to be recognized for the work they have put in as well as state why they continue to teach. All with one common purpose:

1.) “My English Teachers in high school,” English teacher Tiffany Conner said. “I’ve always loved literature and I’ve always loved books. I find books a means of escape, a means of being able to deal with emotions in a detached from through characters and I wanted to share my love with other people and my thing is every year I get 100-120 17-18 year olds, if I can make just a few of them love literature a little bit more or find their voice through writing then I feel like I have done my job for that year and I feel like I can move on.”

2.) “The students totally,” Art teacher Mary Jeffrey said. “I mean I like getting to work with art materials everyday but it’s more important to see students progress and create things that they’re really proud of. I had always loved art but I hadn’t really worked with students until I became a high school college recruiter. I’d go into classrooms and talk to students about the programs that we offered and art jobs and I just loved talking to students about art and seeing their work and everything so I thought: ‘I need to do this! I need to teach!’”

3.) “The fact that I’m still trying to make sure other students didn’t feel the same way I did back in high school,” Math teacher Jeremy Edwards said. “I hated high school and I don’t want other people to feel the same way.”

4.) “All the relationships I’ve had with students,” Economics and football Coach Bill Robertson said.” I had a great government teacher in high school and in college and I wanted to be a football coach.”

5.) “Kids,” Journalism teacher and adviser Danielle Bell said. “They are crazy and wild and unique and never cease to amaze me. They make me laugh and feel like I’m young and make me remember what it was like to be that age when it’s easy to get caught up in bills and adult things and responsibilities and when I’m here I can think about things like: what fonts are we going to use this year? What story needs to be done next? How is this photograph going to look in the book? I get to do things like that instead of worry about things that I don’t have control over. My senior English teacher Mr. Perryman was the best teacher I have ever had in my life and my senior year of high school was really awful for a lot of reasons. Personally, with school. Two of my classmates were killed in a car accident a few weeks before we graduated and he had had all year but, he just took care of us and let us know that we were going to be ok and that his classroom was a safe place to go.”