This is my mom:
My mom has been a teacher for the last 35 years and in less than 60 days, she will be officially retiring. My mom is a truly unbelievable person and an equally amazing teacher. Her journey to being a teacher started when she was an adjunct mathematics professor starting from the time I was born. She used to travel about 90 minutes to her job, to make ends meet for her family and to start a successful career path for herself. Her goal in life was to teach and she not only did this, but she excelled at it.
When I was around 9 years of age, we moved to New Jersey and she started working for the school district where I would later become a student. She taught for one year at the high school where Jon Bon Jovi (my absolute favorite) was a student and then moved on to Marlboro High School where she has resided the past 20+ years.
Between the years of 1996-2000, my mom and I were at the same high school. While she never taught me, she taught calculus, algebra, and geometry to tons of my friends through the years. They always would say to me that although she was a hard teacher, she was also an unbelievably fair teacher and what she taught them was invaluable for years to come. I always heard the best things about my mom, even when the kids had no idea I was secretly listening, walking the halls through Marlboro High School.
In the past 20+ years, she has helped so many children succeed and matriculate on to some of the finest colleges in the country. Every year she has students come back and tell her a simple Thank You. She is and will always be a true role model for students, who envision a world where they could just learn. She is my mentor, my role model, my mom, and my best friend!
In June, she will be retiring. She is 62 years old and has worked since she has been 24 years of age. She very rarely took time for herself and dedicated her life to helping her children and her students. Now is her time to enjoy life…Now is her time to focus on herself and my dad! It will be a very sad day when she walks the halls of MHS for the last time but she will walk it proudly knowing she was the best teacher anyone could have asked for!
For this reason, I was very excited to learn that Office Depot is teaming up with AdoptAClassroom.org,to participate in the REAL Change Project and be eligible for funding from donors nationwide. Did you know that 92%: Percentage of teachers report spending their own money on classroom supplies? They want to help their children, as my mom has done through their years, so they do whatever means they need, to achieve that. The out-of-pocket amount spent by the average teacher each year on essential classroom supplies is roughly $1,000! Imagine that!
By supporting AdoptAClassroom.org, 100% of AdoptAClassroom.org donations goes directly to teachers, so they don’t have to spend their own money on supplies. Any time you make a donation, it goes all to the teachers, so they could give their students what they need and deserve. I highly encourage everyone to support teachers, donate to this important cause, and help spread the word!
Teachers- you can also register your classroom today to help spread word about this incredible program. You can access invaluable tools to help promote your classroom’s needs!
Every one of us has been impacted by a teacher. Let’s show them how thankful we are!!! I know I am planning to do this to show my mom how grateful I am for the years of teaching she has put in! Happy Retirement MOM!
*I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
What a great program. My Mom was a teacher for 20 years and spent countless amounts of money on her classroom. This is great!
Oh Melissa, you made ME tear up! What a special role model your mom has been! She truly is an amazing teacher. You can always tell what kind of teacher they are by listening to the students. I had teachers like her. Very hard, but very fair. And they are my most cherished teachers to this day. I know your mom is cherished by so many of her teachers.
So many of her STUDENTS*** that’s suppose to say Students at the end.
What a perfectly beautiful tribute to your Mom and the passion and brilliance she brings to her teaching. Thank you for sharing your love and pride of your Mom and the info on AdoptAClassroom. So important…
Thank you so very much for this Melissa! It is the best retirement present that I could ask for. It is true that there is no better honor for a teacher to receive than for her students to be successful and reach out to you to tell you that you have been part of that success. I have been very lucky to have taught some wonderful people who have gone on to achieve amazing things. I will be sad when I leave but I know that I have achieved what I set out to do many years ago. It is also a honor as a parent to know that you have appreciated this as well. Thank you so very much!
Mom
PS – I am only 60- lol!!
This is really lovely! My mom is a teacher too and I have been recently considering returning to graduate school to get my MA in teaching.
Beautiful tribute to your mother!!! Thanks for letting us know about this great initiative!
My mom was a math teacher too! I think we have talked about this before?? Anyway, this is a gorgeous tribute to your mother. She will love it! Happy retirement to her!
This is a great program:) Thanks for sharing!!!
You look just like your mom. Beautiful, both of you!
This is a wonderful program. My older two boys are in the 3rd and 2nd grade, and I know that their teachers over the years have spent plenty of their own money on classroom items. When they get their weekly newsletters and there are requests for things like disinfectant wipes, tissues, treasure box items, etc., I always try to send them in if I can!
Each year I would spend well over $1000 of my own money on things for my class (crayons, pencils and paper) it’s ridiculous. Sounds like a great program. Congratulations to your mom on her retirement.
Great program and company, my husband works at the corporate office for them!
So glad to hear about this program, teachers are some of the most important people.
PS fan scream at Bon Jovi <3
Such a sweet post and wonderful program! We have many teachers in our family, including my mom (though she switched to nursing about 15 years ago) Thank you for sharing!
How awesome! Teachers are invaluable. I bet your mom is super excited to be retiring! Yay Mom!