Keep the Torch Burning!

       Last night, I had the opportunity to learn all about the torch that I get to carry for Indiana’s Bicentennial Relay. The relay starts in Harrison County on September 9^th and will continue for 37 days, ending with a “Hoosier Homecoming” in Marion County on October 15^th.  What an honor!  I am so proud to be an educator in Indiana, and completely humbled to be the 2016 Indiana Teacher of the Year.  I wish with all of my heart that every teacher could feel the appreciation and regard that I have experienced since this journey began.

       As I begin a new day of representing our state’s incredible teachers, I can feel the torch in my hands.  This torch is not the high tech, golden version created by Purdue University for a historical relay.  This is the torch of educators…a fire within the bellies of our great state’s teachers that burns day and night.  It is the last thought of our students as we nod off for the night, and the first plan that starts formulating when we open our eyes in the morning. It’s the cheese stick we remove from our lunch to feed the hungry student at snack time, the coat that we buy to warm a student at recess, the extra hours spent on preparing engaging lessons and giving meaningful feedback on student work. 

       Every day, teachers are privileged to get to teach.  The hearts and minds of our students become a part of ours, and even when we pass the torch along as our students move from grade to grade, the fire still burns.  We get new students, but we never stop caring about the ones before. And, every once in a while, when the torch feels too heavy to hold, there is no family like a school family.  We come along side of each other, and hold our own torch along with someone else’s until they can support it all on their own again.  The kids in our schools are “our” kids, not yours or mine, and the torch that we carry never, ever goes out.
       So, on October 1^st, as I carry the torch through Allen county, I will be thinking about all 92 counties of Indiana’s teachers.  I wish I could put a little bottle of the love and appreciation I have felt for the last few months in each of your mailboxes.  I promise that there are people all over our state and our country who want you to feel valued and worthy, supported and even revered.  Keep the torch burning, educators.  What we do is leaving an incredible legacy over every inch of our state.  We must turn up the flame and shine it bright for all to see.  Teach!  Indiana!