This special week, we set aside time to celebrate and honor the unsung heroes who shape young minds – our teachers. These dedicated professionals play multifaceted roles, nurturing curiosity, imparting knowledge, and inspiring a lifelong love of learning in their students. I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to recognize the many remarkable teachers who have guided me along my educational journey.

The value of lifelong learning cannot be overstated, and it has served me well, as I suspect it has for many others. Throughout my career, I’ve embraced opportunities for reinvention and change, which necessitated a cycle of reskilling. Only because I had been taught how to learn and acquired executive functioning skills was I able to navigate these transitions successfully – accomplishments for which I owe an immense debt of gratitude to my teachers.

This investment in lifelong learning is more crucial than ever as we confront a world of accelerating change. The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is generating both excitement and concern. Futurists paint bold visions of society’s potential as AI evolves, while the world’s wealthiest innovators race to deliver groundbreaking technologies – from autonomous flying public transport to moon-based infrastructure building to genetic engineering and DNA editing. These once fanciful ideas are now realities unfolding before our very eyes.

As we grapple with preparing students for a future marked by seismic-level shifts and careers yet to be conceived, we wholeheartedly support and appreciate our teachers even more. Theirs is an enormously challenging vocation, one that is underpaid, with long days, and many sacrifices.  These systemic issues are the 800 lb gorillas in the room that we as a society can no longer ignore. 

As a society we must collaborate to address these challenges, for the role of educators is pivotal to the wellbeing of our local economies and communities. Education is the great equalizer, the antidote to poverty, and essential to unlocking human potential.

Yet, despite the obstacles, there you are – our teachers – showing up day after day, driven by a belief in the infinite possibilities that lie within each student.

Think about this. Could Jeff Bezos’s teachers have foreseen that they were nurturing the mind behind one of the world’s most innovative companies? Or Oprah Winfrey’s, that they were shaping a media powerhouse and philanthropist? Or Dr. King’s, that they were educating a visionary set to change the world?

Who will your students become? What gifts will they bestow upon the world? We cannot yet know, but we are profoundly grateful for your passion, dedication, and commitment to uncovering the answers.  

Now, in case no one has told you today, we are honored to be the first. You are amazing!

We are deeply grateful that YOU answered the call to the noblest of noble professions. 

Cheers to your continued success!