Thanking Teachers of the Next Generation

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Zachiah Roberson
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  The Grand Forks military community had two words for those who educate their children last week: "Thank you!"

Maj. Johari Hemphill, 319th Logistics Readiness Squadron commander, visited on-base schools Nathan F. Twining and Ben Eielson to personally thank the educators as part of the May 6-10 Teacher Appreciation Week.

"I know that this is Teacher Appreciation Week, but this is not the only time we should be thanking you," Hemphill said to the staff at Eielson during a May 7 visit. "You should all be thanked every day because you don't get breaks like summer; that is just a time for you to plan for the next school year."

The week serves to recognize teachers across the United States for their selfless contributions to the students and for the love and care they have for their jobs. And it could easily be argued that those who teach military youth face the same challenges the kids do: dealing with deployments, families who come and go on military assignments, and other issues the general public never experiences.

He also presented the schools with a tree-shaped plaque symbolizing the seeds of knowledge that teachers plant in students - seeds intended to metaphorically develop into strong, fruitful trees.

"You are all a huge part of these kids' lives," he said.

During a visit to Twining on May 9, Hemphill told the staff how successful he had become because of his great teachers. He also stressed that he has a personal connection to the on-base schools.

"I have kids in each of these schools and I cannot believe how excited they are to go to school every day and how happy they are when they come home," said Hemphill. "They both go to great schools and it makes me happy that I can be here today to show the base's appreciation for the teachers of our military children."

There are approximately 660 youth between kindergarten and 12th grade connected to Grand Forks AFB. They attend 33 public and private schools in the North Dakota and Minnesota communities. Plaques were given to all of those schools.

"The purpose for providing plaques to each school was to serve as a reminder that even though their school may not have direct contact with the Air Force base, the school liaison office and base leadership haven't forgotten the hard work and dedication the teachers and administrations demonstrated for our military students and their families throughout the year, and we wanted to say thank you," said Kelly Painter, Airman & Family Readiness Center school liaison officer.