October is rapidly approaching. Most schools have been in session since late August. As the leaves on the trees start to turn golden and auburn, educators everywhere are already starting to feel a little weary. The paperwork never ends. There are helicopter parents hovering over their children and making sure their little darlings are being adequately prepared for Harvard in the third grade. High school teachers are trying to motivate kids who are already on their own. Mom and dad abandoned parental duties long before these children turned sixteen. Tenured university professors are trying to learn how to communicate effectively with students updating their facebook status on their i-phones during class.

And then there are there are the jewels of education, who are tucked away in a classroom where very few people are even aware of what they are doing. They are ESL instructors. They teach individuals of all ages who do not possess sufficient English skills to excel in any educational endeavor. Some of these teachers are instructing 5 year olds in an ESL kindergarten class. Others are trying to help that middle school age child, who is at an age that is notoriously awkward, to learn the same curriculum that their peers are working through.

There are also a lot of adults out there who really want to learn English! Those same jewels of the education field are instucting immigrants in the evenings and finding time to tutor such individuals at various times and places during the course of the day. It is not an easy undertaking for a teacher. Thankfully there are no helicopter parents hovering over the adult ESL classroom, but there is also little acknowledgement from the outside world for a job well done. When an ESL teacher tells others what they do, they are more likely to hear snide comments about immigrants then get a pat on the back.

I heard from one of these jewels of education today. She is in the process of teaching an ESL student how to keyboard. Some of us learned this skill on an old IBM typewriter back in the day! She found a good tutorial website for the student to use, and they were up and running.
And then it got interesting… The teacher asked the student: How do you feel about learning this skill? And the student’s response? She said: This is my life’s dream come true.

October is rapidly approaching. Golden and auburn leaves fell from the trees and onto the sidewalk as the teacher left that ESL class this morning. The weariness that typically overcomes teachers around the first of October was noticeably absent. The comment from the eager student refused to leave her head…This is my life’s dream come true… I am thinking about teachers today. I am especially thinking about the jewels of the educational system who are toiling away where few people have the privilege of seeing life’s dreams come true. May God bless them for their commitment to the least of these….They are the real treasures of our communities.