An Open
Letter to the Elected Officials of the United States of America
By
Rachel Bell, Teacher, Windham, Maine
Mr.
President and Members of Congress,
I am
writing to you today as one voice for teachers united with and concerned for
our students and our community. I have a request…a favor if you will…or maybe,
at this point, it’s become a plea.
I am a fifth-grade
teacher and we are currently studying about our amazing country and how the
government works. We are learning about the Constitution, what elected
officials are, why they are elected (to represent and protect us everyday
people) and checks and balances (making sure no one branch’s power gets too
great). We also work (tirelessly) every day to help the students we love become
the best people they can be. We strive to help them grow to be compassionate
human beings, respectful of others and themselves, and to spread kindness and
tolerance to people they meet.
I am finding it to be a daunting
task these days…
My
students ask questions. They ask hard questions and they ask honest questions.
They ask why those we elected into office don’t always think about what is best
for us…We The People. They ask why those we elected into office aren’t always
empathetic or kind or respectful to each other or to We The People. In a
Zero-Tolerance for Bullying environment, that our school is, they ask why is it
ok that the people running our country bully others when we are trying to teach
them that is not ok. They want to know why the people who run our country argue
with each other in ways that are hurtful and not working together to problem
solve when we are trying to teach them successful ways to express our feelings
while also listening and respecting the feelings of others…and then coming
together to compromise.
I do not have all the answers to
these impossible, yet necessary, questions they ask…
So,
today, I have a request of you Mr. President and Members of Congress…because
these small, beautiful young people are watching you. They are watching you
carefully and, as we all know, one of the most powerful learning tools is
modeling.
You are not modeling what our young
generation needs…
I
respectfully and sincerely ask you to stop. Please. Just. Stop.
I ask
you to look inside yourself and look at those around you, whom we have put our
trust and faith in…and ask yourself the questions that the students would ask
if you were face to face with them in a classroom.
“Am I doing right by the
generations to come?”
“Was I respectful and used kind
words, not hurtful ones?”
“Was I kind and did I help someone
today?”
“At the end of the day, am I proud
of the person I was that day?”
These,
and many other questions are necessary when you are looking into the faces of
children who admire you, who trust you and who look to you for guidance and
modeling.
I was
called to teaching. It is not a “job” for me but, rather, it is a way of life.
I wake up every day and think about the kind of person I want to be and the
kind of people I hope my students will be. I try my best…each and every single day…to
model respect, kindness and compassion. I see my colleagues doing the same
thing…each and every single day. We love our students, like our own children
and we feel we are constantly swimming upstream.
We need your help…
We need
you to also strive to be the best people YOU ALL can be. We need you to model
respect, kindness and compassion…every day…even when you have to restrain
yourself, when you are frustrated beyond belief, when you are angry. When you
just want to think about your own best interests that is the time when you MOST
need to think about theirs...
…and put yourselves aside to do
what’s right and good and decent.
So,
today I ask you…no, I plead to you. Please make We The People proud of the
people in whom we trust to do what’s right, to protect us, to represent us, to
have our best interests at heart.
Please
help us do right by the young minds…and hearts…that are looking to YOU to be
the very embodiment of all the things we hold so dear when we think about
humanity.
Be Kind. Be respectful. Be
compassionate.
Warmly,
Rachel
Bell
Teacher,
Grade 5
Manchester
School
Windham,
Maine
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