Happy New Year!!! Yep. You read that correctly. Happy New Year. 
No. I have not gone off the deep end. I have not lost my mind and forgotten that date. I know that it is the beginning of August (though Christmas is only 20 weeks from today). Yet this is our New Year, the New Year if you are part of the education world. Today, for our school district at least, our teachers returned for the first day of the New Year.
I must admit that I was not ready for today. I woke two hours after my alarm was supposed to go off. I missed any chance to work out. I lost the quiet time that I try to have in the office for a couple of hours before the phones start ringing. I found my collar was tighter than the last day I wore my tie. I left the house mumbling to myself about how I should just turn around and go back to bed. Then to top it off, this introvert was going to spend the morning with 500+ colleagues. I love working with these people, but oh the crowd….
This was shaping up to be a Monday that lived up to the reputation of all Mondays!!!! Lord help me.
It is funny how your prayers are answered.
I arrived at the high school early to help set-up. The team in charge had everything well prepared. I stood around a very empty, quiet quad. I reminisced about the first day I walked into this quad with a key in hand heading to my first classroom. I thought about walking through the quad full of students and noise – especially Fridays when the music blared during lunch. I remembered my first students – students who are now in their mid to late 20s possibly with children of their own. This morning though, this morning it was quiet. No noise. No chaos. No bumping shoulders. No…nothing. Just a big empty space.
Sensing that I had a few moments before the day got started, I snuck into the office of a very nice assistant principal who offered me a nice cup of coffee. I walked the hall greeting people as they started coming down the hall. Colleagues coming home.
I am not sure what happened in the short time it took to get coffee, but when I walked back out to the quad, it was packed. There were people all over the place and it was LOUD. The difference between this morning and my memories were the people who filled the space. These were not students (though they were louder than most students), these were the teachers of the district all coming back to do what they do.
The quad was filled with laughter, greetings, cheers, music from one of the high school bands – it was filled with happiness and joy.
I started the day off in a sour mood, but there was no way, as I stood watching this scene unfold that I could stay in my mood. My soul became filled with excitement. I was feeding off the vibe that was buzzing through this crowd. I saw teachers with 30+ years look as excited as those who were starting their first day in a new career. I heard talk of plans and expectations for the coming year. I listened as these professionals shared how they spent their summer taking classes, attending seminars, and reading up on new things to do with their students.
I did not see tired – I saw teachers chomping at the bit waiting to meet their new students in just a week’s time. I saw the reason why I do my job.
While the morning finished with a welcome from the superintendent, it was the two students who spoke prior to him that sealed the change in my mood. Two seniors, two who serve as the representatives for our students on the Board of Education, spoke about their time as students in our district. It made me want to go back in time and be part of this district as a young person.
So yes. My prayers were answered. I needed a reminder of what I do and why I do it. These teachers and those students did just that.
Today, I watched as our teachers rang in the New Year for education just like many other teachers across the country have been doing in the last week or over the next few weeks. Welcome back 
and thank you.
Thank you to each and every one of you who will spend more time over the next 40 weeks with other people’s children than with your own. Thank you for every lesson that you will plan, every paper you will grade, every email you will write, every phone call you will take, every story you will listen to, every nose you will wipe, every tear you will dry, every connection to a student you will make. Thank you for choosing a profession that is criticized possibly more than any other. Thank you for teaching the children math, English, history, science, art, PE, music, and life.
I send our daughter back to school knowing that she will be learning, laughing, and growing. Thanks to the teacher she will meet in a week, the ones she has had in the past, and those who will be in our future.
I will close with what I posted to these teachers earlier today:
Today is the official return of teachers to the district. I emphasize official for I have seen so many of these dedicated people time and time again throughout the summer. Yes – they were on break, but they were also learning how to make school better for each and every child.
I wish each and every one of you the best as you start a new year. May your excitement continue to grow each and every day. May the good experiences outweigh the bad. May you, at the end of each day as you go off to sleep, know that you made a difference in many young lives.
May the tears you shed in May be out of joy for the growth you witnessed, the excitement as you see your students progress, and out of sadness that you cannot hold them in your arms forever.
All the best to each and every teacher that decided this was their purpose in life.