Dear Teachers,

The art of teaching is not one easily mastered over the course of a single day, night, month or even year. Teaching is something that calls out the best of society to pour their efforts into tending the garden of youth; a job never appreciated enough and only for the strong of heart. For that, we would like to extend the most heartfelt and sincere thank you.

We at The Tower would like to acknowledge all the work put in by the teachers. The countless hours spent advising clubs, a job without pay. The creation and teaching of electives, something many other schools don’t include in their curriculum. Some of those electives are born out of the will of teachers to make sure that students will do well in the class in college, showing the care put forth by the teaching staff. You inspire us to follow in your footsteps and show us what we truly love in academia.

Thank you for the countless letters of recommendations. The ability of teachers to turn around letters within a week due to a procrastinating student. Thank you for pushing us to excellence, acting as the backbone of an elite institute of education. A job at South is desired by teachers far and wide and you have earned your position. You are the reason South is held in such a deified position. Thank you for waking up and at least putting up a facade of being less tired than us, even though the job requires much strain to sift through tests and bothersome students. Thank you for getting to school early and staying at school late, and sometimes using your lunchtime to give us the chance to improve.

Those breakthrough moments where everything clicks are not our own doing, they are yours. Although you may try to act modest and pretend like we are the ones who are responsible for our own growth, that would be a complete falsehood. It would be incredibly onerous to find a student here who would say the teaching staff as a whole has negatively affected their lives. The love, devotion and resolve of the teaching staff to sharpen the minds of the next generation and catapult them to success is worthy of admiration beyond words.

Every student has a teacher that has been able to reach deep into our inner selves and genuinely comprehend how we work. Those teachers know where to push and where to pull; how to make us the best version of ourselves. This creates the teacher that we will tell our kids about shining with pride and adoration. When our time at South is up, those will be the last thoughts as we exit these hallowed halls–the thoughts of knowing there was someone to go to when there was no one else, a person who knew how to teach to us, how to make us a better human and someone who used all of these facets fully.

If you are having a bad day or ever question why you chose this profession, we would like you to know that you have transformed countless lives, a gift which is impossible for us to reciprocate. Know that you are truly appreciated, no matter how many times students doze off or are rude little snots. Thank you for taking full advantage of the responsibility to educate and illuminate our minds, and we do see the hard work put in day in and day out to make sure that we move forward.

One last time, from all at The Tower, with the utmost respect and admiration, thank you.

Sincerely,

The Tower