During this time, we are all grieving something. Whether it be the loss of graduation, a summer trip or just time spent with friends — there is some feeling of loss we’re experiencing that makes this time a little more difficult. However, there are still so many things to be grateful for. There are essential workers on the frontlines that make sure we have all our necessities and there are teachers, who,  every day provide curriculum to students to give us the education we deserve.

While we all have those moments where school is hard and stressful, imagine what you would do every single day without having school during this time. Trust me when I say Netflix is only interesting for so long. Teachers have continued to provide us a well-rounded education as our government promised. We need to remember that the teachers are going through this crisis too.

Some teachers have little kids that they need to homeschool. Some teachers have spouses who are working on the frontlines. Some  teachers may have feelings of sadness and bad and good days, too. 

Even so, teachers took a week to move our entire in-person curriculum to online instruction with no end date in sight. There were so many uncertainties and yet, they managed to accomplish that task keeping their students in mind. Most online schools take months to years to create but they did it for us in one week. They did it despite their entire lives going crazy as well.

Now, it is our turn to say thank you to them.

To every teacher and administrator, I speak for every student in the Oak Park Unified School District and the parents too, thank you for everything you have done during this uncertain time. Thank you for waking up each morning to give us some normalcy. Thank you for giving us a new face to look at and talk to throughout the week. Thank you for understanding us during this time. More than anything, thank you for being you.

Students, remember that this week is Staff Appreciation week  so please, email your teachers and say two simple words that mean the world: thank you.