How Teachers and Educators Count in Driving Our Future
What makes a community strong?
It’s easy to point to the things we can see. Especially with all of the growth here in Ashland, Ohio. Successful local businesses. Good schools. Churches and nonprofit organizations that care for people. Safe neighborhoods. Parks, hospitals, and community events. We’ve got it all!
But underneath all of those things is something much more basic.
People. People Helping People.
Strong communities need people who are willing to work, contribute, solve problems, raise families, help their neighbors and make good decisions. They need people who can communicate with someone who sees the world differently than they do. People who understand responsibility. People who make mistakes, learn from them, and try again.
We’re going to need more people like this, and right now, they are sitting in somebody’s classroom.
The Immeasurable Impact of a Teacher
We ask a lot of our teachers, and much of what we ask can be measured. There are grades, test scores, graduation rates, and other ways to track academic progress.
But how do you measure the teacher who recognizes something in a student that the student hasn't recognized yet? Or the one who expects a little more from a young person because they know that student is capable of more?
What is the value of teaching a child to meet a deadline, work with other people, ask a good question, accept correction, or keep trying when something doesn't come easily?
Research suggests that the influence of good teachers really does follow students into adulthood. A major long-term study involving more than one million students found that students assigned to more effective teachers were more successful and had higher earnings as adults.
In other words, what happens in a classroom today can still matter many years from now.
Financial literacy is part of preparing for life
One of the areas where young people eventually have to put those life skills to work is with money. Here at the Ashland Community Federal Credit Union, we think that’s a pretty handy skill to have!
Financial literacy certainly involves understanding things like saving, borrowing, credit, and interest. But it goes deeper than that, and today’s best teachers know it.
Today’s financially literate students will ask: Can I wait for something I want instead of buying it today? Can I plan for something that's months or years away? Do I understand that today's decision may limit tomorrow's choices? Am I willing to ask questions when I don't understand something? If I make a financial mistake, can I learn from it instead of repeating it?
Yes, those are financial questions. But they're also life questions. Our best teachers are teaching our young people to look past the easily found answer, and create bigger life-changing questions.
The community we're building now
Our community is its people.
The young person sitting in an Ashland County classroom today may someday open a business here. She may become a nurse who takes care of us. He may coach a Little League team, serve on a nonprofit board, hire employees, raise a family, volunteer at church or simply become the neighbor who notices when somebody down the street needs a hand.
That's part of what makes teaching such remarkable work. Teachers spend their careers preparing young people for futures none of us can completely predict, often making an impact they may never get to see.
At Ashland Community Federal Credit Union, we're grateful for the teachers doing that work throughout our community. And when it comes to helping those young people become financially confident adults, we believe the rest of us have a role to play, too.
We’re people helping people. That’s not just a slogan. It’s Ashland. So when you see a teacher, say “thank you”. Pitch in at school. Work with your kids on their homework.
Because you, me, our kids, and our teachers…we’re all in this together. And we think that’s a really good thing.
