By David Rice

Executive Director, Public Ed Works

WINCHESTER, VA (January 8, 2025) – I’m the son of two teachers – one a highly successful football coach and excellent math teacher, the other a strict home-ec teacher.

Rather than The Brady Bunch, I grew up watching game film on our living room wall – forward and backward, over and over and over again. (“What is he looking at?” I’d wonder.)

And I distinctly recall one evening when I was 7 or 8 years old when there was a knock at our door at 356 Miller Street. As a little busybody, I answered the door.

There stood one of my Dad’s burly linemen.

And there were tears streaming down his cheeks.

I didn’t understand. I was confused. He plopped down on our couch, sobbing. He buried his face in his hands. I was promptly sent to my room.

State Superintendent Mo Green discusses the need to not just respect, but revere public school teachers.

 

I DIDN’T ASK my Mom about it for 30 years.

“What was that about?”

Turns out this burly lineman’s father was beating his mother.

And this big – but bewildered – teenager didn’t know where to turn, except to his coach. It was a whole-family effort to console him.

So please know that our teachers and coaches care for our children in ways that extend far, far beyond the classroom, the football field or the basketball court.

Please know they teach not just classroom lessons, but abiding life lessons.

And – please – appreciate our teachers and the many lessons they teach.