Russ's Ravings: I Appreciate My Kid's Teacher, So I Ignore Her

Editor's note: The following is Patch North Jersey Regional Manager Russ Crespolini's, hopefully, weekly column. It is reflective of his opinion alone.

There is a week, or a day or a month for nearly everything. As an employee of Patch Media I often post stories about them. But Teacher Appreciation week is one that always catches my attention because I would not be where I am today, if not for the remarkable teachers I have had in my life.

School wasn't always easy for me, as an overweight kid with a mouth it sometimes led to friction. Especially because my athleticism was about as lacking as my fashion sense. But I can recall several teachers who made my time in the Mt. Olive School District bearable.

The first was my third grade teacher, Mrs. Picker. Yes, I know her first name, but I am not saying it because of a little thing we call respect.

She knew I struggled with self-esteem and did her best to give me opportunities to build some. My sixth grade homeroom teacher Mr. Ginsburg was a phenomenal storyteller who wove such a narrative I can still recite how the dole, or free grain, was used by the Roman Empire to control the poor populace to this day.

Ms. Hull-Clark in eighth grade, Mrs. Thornton in high school and of course, Dr. Julie Haynes in college. I can call her Julie because 21 years since graduation we have become friends, and I am almost over my crush on her.

Julie was the person who nurtured my potential not only as a communication student in the newsroom but gave me the model for what I wanted to be for my students in the classroom. My two work role models are J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle and Julie Haynes.

But I also learned from those teachers that did not inspire me. The ones that did not care, the ones that came to class drunk, the ones so secure in tenure they would just read a chapter from the text book and call it a day.

But as amazing as those teachers were for me in the past, there are even more amazing teachers impacting my life right now through my daughter.

These teachers who worked so hard to help keep her calm, focused and learning throughout the entire COVID-19 pandemic. They do such an amazing job, I totally and completely ignore them.

They send weekly updates. I don't read them. I am just too busy at the moment. And I have the luxury of doing that because when we have our conferences or when my daughter shares with me what she is working on in school I am always blown away by the quality and consistency of the instruction and the creativity in the work.

Teacher Appreciation week is something I value more now than I ever have in the past. These teachers help mold us for our futures, and I am so grateful for their continued presence in my life and the life of my loved ones.

Every semester I approach it with the same focus: reach one student. Make a difference in one life. That adds up to a pretty good career.

These other teachers are doing that times 30. And we are in their debt.

Russ Crespolini is the North Jersey Regional Manager for Patch Media, an adjunct professor and college newspaper advisor. His columns have won awards from the National Newspaper Association and the New Jersey Press Association.