National Teacher Day



In 2017, National Teacher Day is May 9th. It is the Tuesday of the first full week of May.

Teachers certainly are among the most deserving individuals over the decades. This day honors those hard working, patient and understanding people whom we entrust our children to. Teachers mold our kids in a positive direction, affecting who they are and who they become. From Kindergarten through college, teachers are an important part of our children’s lives and to our ancestors’ lives. 

This would be the perfect day to start with yourself and recall the Elementary, Junior High and High School teachers you had. You may need to go over your yearbook from high school but that is a good start. If your parents are still living, the same thing, have them recall and make a written record of who and what your parents recall about their teachers. Same can be done with grandparents and aunts and uncles.

Then turn the tables, if a relative was or still is a teacher, have them recall some of the most unusual events or students they had.

My personal experience as a former 7th grade social studies teacher are many but one event always makes me laugh. One a written test, one of the questions was: Explain why very little beef is consumed in China. The reply by one of the students was priceless. Their answer: “Very little beef is eaten in China because it is very hard to cut the beef into smaller prices using only crop sticks.” I gave full credit to that student for their answer.

Including a relative’s memories of their school years and especially the men and women who as teachers had a big impact on their life would really add to the family history.

Photos: Vintage Teacher One Room School Log Cabin with Bare Foot Students in Michigan 1880; Blanchard High School teachers in early 1900s in Iowa; 1940s classroom in Australia; and Mrs. Curry’s 6th grade class at Kensington Park Elementary School in Miami in 1960.

Related FamilyTree.com Blogs:

Back to School for Your Ancestors

School Days

A Cousin at School

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