Before entering college, my dad suggested I consider becoming a schoolteacher. He believed that a career path in education would coincide with becoming a mother.

He assumed that one day I would eventually marry and have children, which of course, I did. I am not sure he counted on paying for two weddings and me having four children, but it all worked out!

Dad’s practical suggestion was obvious.

While my children were in school learning, I would be there teaching. When they were home for school breaks, I would be right there at home with them.

The only problem with his sensible recommendation was that I had no desire to be a schoolteacher. Now, if he had made that suggestion while I was still in elementary school, I would have replied, “Yes!  Sign me up, fill out the paper work and book my dorm room.”

My best friend Janet and I could not get enough of playing school.

We would spend hours setting up our little classrooms, coming up with the pseudo names for our students, making out tests and, of course the most fun of all, grading papers. But as all childhood playing evolves, pretending to be a schoolteacher fell by the way side.

By the time I was in high school, I believe babysitting for 50 cents an hour and volunteering with vacation Bible school sealed it for me.  For sure, working with children was not my forte.

Do not get me wrong, I love children. I just do not have the gift it takes to spend nine months out of a year, day after day, teaching them.

But I am thankful there are those who do with many of them going above and beyond what is necessary to help children learn.

I know teachers who have offered encouragement when times were tough and have shown love to their students when all seemed lost.  They have paid for school supplies when resources were limited and provided extra instruction with no extra pay.

The job description of a teacher, as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary, says a teacher is one who gives lessons or shows how something is done. I think this definition falls way short of what a dedicated teacher actually provides.

As a reporter, I covered a house fire this week, and Deputy Fire Chief Craig Danczyk made a comment after complementing his men. He said it is “a calling” when someone chooses to become a fireman, a policeman or a teacher.

I agree. It has to be a calling to dedicate one’s life to a profession, which, unfortunately, does not reflect the importance of the job monetarily.

William Butler Yeats, who was a poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature, said “education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

The dedication of a teacher is laudable, and now that school has begun for some in Vicksburg and will start for all by Monday, let’s not forget all teachers do.