“If you can read this, thank a teacher.” That was a poster in my 3rd grade classroom. They never said it would be “read this code.” Now that I’m teaching others to code, I can see why teachers continue to do their work, even if the career’s financial benefits aren’t in line with the value they add to society.
Take
TEKY for instance. 50 people started to learn to code. 35 graduated after 9 weeks of instruction, and 7 more weeks of practicing what was preached. The teaching staff was paid a fixed amount. Those students? Off to careers paying $60K+ annually. Even for $100K of instruction – I don’t know what the total was – those students will have a huge impact on the economy many times that of the instructional investment. They’ve been launched from the nest, with incredible potential to live a better life than what the coal industry that abandoned them could offer. So the teachers hope for their “devlings,” and will teach another class to read and write code, and watch them grow and leave again.
It’s a bit heartbreaking. I still remember the jokes we told, the laughs and difficulties we shared as they learned, struggled, got up again and again, then got it. My fellow instructors I’m sure endured the same. You *want* them to succeed. And you’ve made dozens of friends along the way. They’re still your kids, though. They’re going to live their own lives, as careers, and once in a while you’ll reach out to each other to see how you’re doing. They’ll do great – you know that. Like a parent. They’re thankful – but they have a job to do, so they go do it. That pool of connections, of successes, grows. And I feel all teachers are greatly humbled by it. That’s real world change, simply by providing time, mind, and experience.
And maybe, someday, those students will become teachers, and receive the same joy and sense of pride we teachers do.
Dammit, “Cats in the Cradle” is in my head now.
Links to the graduation and open house videos:
Very proud!
-Auri
Auri's Blog 