Importance of Teachers
This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, May 4-8. Educators have a warm home in my heart and memory. I grew up in Grand Chute, and attended elementary school at St. Paul Lutheran located downtown Appleton off of Morrison St. I was part of the “big” class of 31 kids. There were 7 boys and 24 girls. We were all born in 1991/1992 and saw one another grow into teenagers, guided by our teachers.
Technology was limited then, the teachers used old school projectors and wet-erase markers to teach English, science, and math on transparency sheets. In 4th grade, our class was notified about 9/11 happening by the custodian, Mr. Willard. He popped his head into our classroom to tell Mrs. Voss to turn on the television and watch the Twin Towers. Years later our 8th grade teacher, Mr. Sonnenburg, taught us how to make mini documentaries that we recorded and stop-motion photographed on a digital camera. It wasn’t until high school that classes were taught with PowerPoint and computer labs were prominent spaces to learn.
No matter the topic, the teacher’s hand-crafted lessons were memorable to me. Mrs. Stahl taught English and Art. She broke down sentence structures and how to properly cite sources. She took us on a field trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum after teaching us about artists like Mary Cassatt, Picasso, and Marc Chagall. Another favorite teacher of mine was Mr. Huntington, who taught P.E. and History. He would run around the school block four times with us. He helped us understand the turn of the century European power dynamics by utilizing a boardgame called ‘Diplomacy’.
It was a sufficient childhood education in a parochial setting, I am grateful for the impact teachers had on my education and long have they worked with what was available. Fast forward to 2026 and times are still changing. One thing that has not changed since the 1990s is the Wisconsin Public School Funding Equation. The push and pull between private school vouchers and inadequate public school funding impacts many lives. Students and Educators hang in the balance. Solutions to fully fund our public schools need to be identified and implemented. I see our Students and Educators as an investment in Wisconsin’s future and their voices need to be heard in Madison. Yesterday’s SpectrumNews1 article delves deeper into that equation and what lies ahead for Wisconsin.
