Seal adds that another opportunity for community members to directly impact their local school district is to get trained as substitute teachers, which schools are desperately lacking. “When we don’t have substitutes, teachers feel such a strong responsibility to be there for their kids that they will sometimes forgo what they need in order to be at school,” said Eschbach. “Anybody who wants to help, your presence would be so important.” Classroom support from parents is important, too, but Eschbach adds that supporting teachers does not have to translate to giving money or purchasing goods. Volunteering in the classroom or simply reinforcing a teacher’s instructional goals for your child, like ensuring they are reading and completing homework, go a long way. Taking a few minutes to send teachers an encouraging note means more than many parents might realize. “A note that says I see what you’re doing and see the positive benefits to my kid even outside the classroom … we love to see that growth and have that confirmation that parents are seeing it, too,” said Eschbach. Moving forward The pandemic has affected every member of the community and state in some way. Eschbach says acknowledging that impact and connecting the time and talent of community members with their public schools are the next best steps to move forward.
“People want to help, and getting community groups and support into our schools is going to be important to regain a sense of normalcy,” said Eschbach. “Despite our differences, we all want the best for kids — that’s a collective goal we can all share.” Hicks hopes to see a focus on empowering teachers to regain their joy. “There are a lot of things at the state level we can do to empower teachers to fall in love with learning all over again,” said Hicks. “They love kids and are capable of the job they’ve been hired to do. Every child deserves the opportunity to thrive and deserves a well-funded education, which means resisting the temptation to micromanage educators.” Kirk is committed to infusing her positive energy among her colleagues. At a recent review focused heavily on opportunities for improvement, Kirk made a point to end the meeting on a note of positivity, asking everyone to share something in their week that reminded them why they teach. Despite the current sense of overwhelm and burnout for Oklahoma educators, Kirk says, with the community’s help, the industry can and will continue to make strides for our children. “There’s always hope,” said Kirk “We might be tired but we’re not going anywhere. We entered this profession knowing it was challenging. We need everyone else to collaboratively get on board. Our kids are too important — so when you remove the option of walking away, all you have left is hope.”
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