Why We Start With Our Teachers

There is something special about the beginning of a new school year.

The buildings start filling back up. Classrooms are being decorated. Teachers are organizing supplies, learning new names, attending trainings, and getting ready to welcome students through their doors.

And before the students even arrive, we want our educators to know one thing:

We see you, and we appreciate you.

Over the last couple of weeks, the Splendora ISD Education Foundation has had the opportunity to spend a lot of time supporting and celebrating the people who make our schools what they are.

We have welcomed new employees, provided goodies and prizes during professional development, helped sponsor meals and snacks, celebrated our staff at Convocation, and found small ways to remind our educators that what they do matters.

One of the most meaningful moments came Friday morning, when we hosted a special breakfast for our 19 first-year teachers before Convocation.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Splendora High School Class of 1980, every one of those teachers received a $200 Amazon gift card to help purchase items for their classrooms.

There were tears.

There were hugs.

There were some very big smiles.

And standing in that room, it was hard not to think about how important those moments really are.

Starting your first year as a teacher is exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. There are classrooms to prepare, supplies to purchase, lessons to plan, and a million little things to figure out before that first student ever walks through the door.

Sometimes a $200 gift card is about classroom supplies.

But sometimes it is also about someone saying, “We believe in you. We are glad you are here. You are not doing this alone.”

That is why supporting educators is such an important part of the work we do at the Foundation.

When we invest in teachers, that investment doesn’t stop with them.

It reaches every student who sits in their classroom.

It becomes the book a child picks up, the hands-on activity that makes a lesson finally click, the extra resource a teacher needs, or even just a classroom environment where a student feels excited to learn.

Our mission will always be centered around creating opportunities for Splendora ISD students, but one of the best ways we can do that is by supporting the people who teach, encourage, challenge, and care for them every single day.

As our students head back to school Wednesday, we hope our teachers know how many people are standing behind them.

Our donors believe in you.

Our community believes in you.

And the Splendora ISD Education Foundation believes in you.

To every educator getting ready for another school year — whether this is year one or year thirty-one — thank you for choosing to pour into our students.

We can’t wait to see what this year brings.

It’s a great day to be a Wildcat.