As teachers, counselors and school administrators hustle to graduation, I’d like to know what we can do to show our appreciation.
I’m the Founder of The Mindful Applicant, we are on a mission to bring social-emotional learning into the center of the high school experience. We’re building a tool called the Purpose Portfolio which will be a repository of social-emotional information about students, that they generate through our self-discovery curriculum. We envision that it will live next to their academic transcripts to give a more holistic picture of who they are; helping educators connect with them more authentically.
We’ve been lucky to partner this spring with two great charter schools in our home city, Boston, MA. Our work gives us an intimate window into the lives of counselors and teachers. What we see are dedicated, talented educators that have managed more than their share of the pandemic’s suffering, fear and loss. Schools have always been one of society’s greatest safety nets, and the pandemic has caused nearly everyone to fall into that net, all at once. No one should be expected to hold that up, but educators have.
We know that our job as an EdTech company, and therefore as one of the many vendors that sell products to schools is to serve. We will never, ever replace the human beings that are in the building every day, doing the work to mold the minds and lives of young people. We can only aspire to serve them, make their jobs easier, and give the students that they care for an excellent tool to improve learning. We wish to do what we can: to be a small, yet integral part of the education ecosystem, giving counselors and teachers greater ability to do their insanely hard jobs well.
It has always been, and will always be important to show our appreciation for educators. But particularly this year, in light of all they have carried, I’m wondering what we can do to give them a nod of recognition.
I know that donuts, coffee, target gift cards, and wine are nothing compared to higher salaries and PTO. But what can a small vendor, like us, do to signal to our partner schools that we see how hard they work, and we greatly appreciate all that they’ve accomplished?
Counselors, teachers, and administrators, would you weigh in? We’d love your advice on this one.