Steven Easton

School Is Important

Wednesday, May 8 

How is it May 8th already? Like, as much as I want to be done with this school year, it's gone by freakishly fast, and there will be parts of this school that I will miss. Two years ago, I was scared to death about leaving my district in Alabama because that was all I had known, and I did not see how I would be able to make a difference in a random suburban district in Iowa. 

My role as a teacher down there is different than my role as a teacher up here. Down there, academics always came second. The students' needs in everyday life were more important. Here, it's a lot different because most of my students' needs are met at home, so I have the opportunity to teach other important life skills. An example of that is how to write a proper sentence. Sometimes I question if I even know how to write a proper sentence or grammar, but ya know, it's fine. 

Anyway, it's weird because when I was writing this blog two years ago this same time of year, I remember being pretty torn up about leaving because I felt like I was impacting kids' lives, but here, I just feel like a strict teacher because in ways, they baby their students here. By the rules of the district, you can retake any test and turn late work in anytime before the end of the semester. I vetoed that idea of thinking right away because no kid is going to learn how to pay their bills on time if there is no consequence for not turning work in on time. 

In light of teacher appreciation week, I want to remember the teacher who made me into the man I am today, teaching me more about life than the subject he taught. His name was Mr. Kraus, and he taught me why school is important. He and his wife, Sheri, were there for me in times of chaos in my life, and they are the people who brought me to Jesus, as well. In a small town in Alabama, that wasn't illegal. Here, that could never happen. 

As some of you may remember in the previous blog, Mr. Kraus passed away in October of 2017, and it's still raw for me, so I'm not going write a long post about it, but I want to talk about what school really means in light of teacher appreciation week. 

Growing up, I hated school because it was just boring for me. As crazy as this is, I was really shy kid, and all I wanted to do was read when the teacher talked about things that weren't important to me. Who cared about 43+97? It made perfect sense. Obviously, it was 140. (It still is.)  Math made sense to me because my mother would play games with me in the car and numbers were just a game. Math became boring for me, so I didn't pay attention, but that bit me later, causing me to not perform well later, making me feel stupid.

When I had Mr. Kraus as a teacher in sixth grade, he knew my mom was sick, and I was just distracted in school. Sensing that, he reached out, and showed me why school was important. School is important because it gives you opportunities to do whatever you want no matter where you've come from or what you've been born into. He told me I didn't have to stay in the poverty I was raised up in if I played the game of school.

He was right, and I strive to show my kids that everyday. 

Hey, by the way, both Ava and I are feeling better.