A very unassuming woman took the podium tonight, accepting an award as Music Educator of the Year.  She has been at the same school for decades, serving an impoverished community through her teaching of music.  However there was something in her nomination letters that nearly brought me to tears.  This is a woman who not only teaches music well, but over the years has used her own money to make sure children in her school are warm, fed and clothed.

She credited a mentor for teaching her to serve in this way but how incredible is this?  I do not know this woman but was incredibly inspired and then almost immediately shamed.  Shamed because I allowed myself to be moved to anger by an ignorant human whose words drove me to label myself a Loser Teacher and encouraging others to do the same.  This woman was anything but a loser and her students are winners because of her.

I’ve spent the last couple of days in Minnesota, part of the heartland of this country.  A place where I was greeted by warm, hearty handshakes and big smiles.  A place where invitations to join were freely given but where my need for alone time and privacy were honored.  I watched men who are leaders in their professional organization honor others with words of kindness and genuine affection.  Words not scripted days ahead of time but written on yellow pads, simple yet eloquent.  The words from the recipients were just as simple, not speaking about themselves but usually honoring those who had helped or mentored them throughout the years.  They were merely passing it forward.

What I think I had forgotten is that those outside of the educational profession may never understand what it is that we do or sacrifice on a day to day, week to week, year to year basis.  Maybe for those whose existence consists of seeing how much money they can make or how many people they can put down, it’s out of their realm of understanding that there are educated people in the world who still care about others more than themselves.  Maybe they don’t understand that we surround ourselves with others who understand what we do, not just to vent to or commiserate but to learn from and be inspired by them.

This morning I did a session for their conference about advocacy and one of the activities I ask participants to do is to get with a person or two and share why they initially decided to teach music and why they continue to do so.  Within seconds I saw animated smiling faces, people sharing with colleagues, friends and strangers of what gets them excited about teaching music.  No matter how tired or overworked they are or how unappreciated they feel, most teachers understand the bottom line – it’s not about them, it’s about the kids.  And while I know no profession is perfect and that there are some teachers who have their own agendas and unwisely push those agendas on their students, the vast majority of teachers do exactly the opposite.  They want their students to love learning and to think for themselves.  We serve merely as facilitators in that journey.

So, I take it all back.  I was wrong. I am not a loser teacher and neither are my colleagues and because of us, neither are our students.  People who don’t get it or don’t want to get it have to be let go because putting the focus on them takes the focus off of what’s more important and for a little while, I forgot that.  If one of my students comes to me when someone has called them a name, I first ask them if what the other person said is true.  The answer is usually “no”.  Then, if it’s not true, you have the right to let them know you don’t agree with them and then if they don’t apologize, you walk away and not worry about it.  I needed to take my own advice.

So I thank my colleagues to the north, those wonderful music educators of Minnesota whose warm hearts counteract the bitter cold temperatures, who reminded me that together, we are all winners with and for our students.