Blog

Your job, five-days a week, is to instruct a group of 27 to 35 pupils under the age of ten.  Many of them live in safe homes and have wonderful support from their parents.  However, at least half of those students show up without having had breakfast.  Several of them couldn’t do their homework over the weekend because they lost their pencil in the car in which they live. Several others are sleep-deprived, having been pulled out of their homes late at night by CYFD.  Others woke up to an empty house and return to that same empty house at the end of the school day; and so, no one sees their math test or helps them with their spelling words. Several do not own clothes that fit them.

You are held responsible for the academic progress of these students.

"To enter another’s life and carry their burdens with them is an act that speaks so loudly of the love of our Savior, who entered our lives and took our burdens upon Himself."

Not only that, but studies show that you are traumatized by your students’ trauma. The black eye that stares at you from the third row, the emaciated frame that slumps over in the second, the red-tear-stained face that blinks at you from the fourth…you take them all home at night. Though you cannot fix their situations, you cannot simply walk away from them. Each one becomes uniquely yours when they step into your classroom; and when they hurt, you hurt.

This is the reality for many teachers in APS Title 1 schools.  Click here to read, "Teacher Turnover in NM is High. Here’s How We Fix It." an article detailing, from a teacher’s perspective, what a lonely job it can be.

We have been so blessed with the opportunity to support A. Montoya’s teachers over the past three years. This year, we are hoping to send a personalized note of thanks to each and every teacher.  Click here to partner with us as we join our teachers in the incredible and challenging jobs they face by signing up to write to them. It goes a long way to encourage the heart of a hard-working individual who invests so deeply in our community.

To enter another’s life and carry their burdens with them is an act that speaks so loudly of the love of our Savior, who entered our lives and took our burdens upon Himself.