Who we are, why we teach

NEA Today, Sep 2003 by O'Neil, John

Debbie Munoz, a paraprofessional at Redlands East Valley High School in Redlands, California, took a large pay cut from her job at a jewelry store to work with kids. Intent on distracting a sixth-grade student who insisted on stabbing himself with a pencil, she walked him to the science lab one day to show him the animals they had. The boy began to open up to Munoz, and the stabbing stopped. The boy now attends her high school. "He's secure with himself now," says Munoz. "I have so many success stories, and it has made such a huge impact on my life that I've been able to do this."

It's moments like these that underscore the NEA Status report's conclusion: you'd do it all over again. In spite of low pay and crazy mandates, 60 percent of teachers say that, if they had to go back to the time they were in college-armed with their present knowledge-they'd still choose teaching.

"When I go home every day, I know that what I do matters to society," Janice Voorhies, a teacher at Utah's Bingham High School, wrote in a recent letter to the Deseret News. Voorhies was among dozens of teachers who flooded the paper with personal testimonies after a local columnist asked why teachers stick it out given the conditions they face. The Utah Education Association now plans a campaign around the theme of "Why I Teach" to let the public read these stories. "I am enriched by the countless students who daily share with me their courage, enthusiasm, talent, sometimes off-the-wall humor, and sheer joy for learning," Voorhies continued. "There isn't a better job anywhere."

"A long time ago I taught in Tennessee and Alabama," North reflects. "A lot of those students are probably parents themselves now. I think about the kind of influence I may have had on them, and whether that's being passed on to their children." The desire to mold future generations-and help children fulfill their own dreams-does not fade easily.