On Monday, February 18th I came back to Appalachian State University to speak to a group of graduate school accountant students. I will admit I was a little bit nervous at first, because this was a very different audience then I was used to. But, it ended up being a wonderful time! All of the students were very interested in learning about how the education system works. I explained to them the different roles that the General Assembly, DPI, local boards, and schools play when it comes to teaching the students of North Carolina. I also showed them an example of students in a classroom and a teacher's daily schedule. The accountant majors were shocked by a teacher's daily schedule and they couldn't get over the fact that we do get 15 minutes breaks or an hour for lunch.
Towards the end of our discussion one of the students asked me about teacher pay. The rest of the class started discussing how much a first year teacher makes and about the pay freeze. At one point a student looked at me and said, "if that is what you get paid then why are you a teacher?" I was shocked because I don't think I have ever been asked that question. I looked at him and said because when I knew I wanted to be a teacher at age 5 I didn't know anything about teacher pay. I knew that I wanted to be a teacher to help students and to give them the skills so they need so they will have successful lives. I do it for them. He looked at me and said, "but you have to have money to live." I then said, "yes, yes we do. And living pay check to pay check and budgeting to you have enough money to eat is not fun. But, I do it for the students, not for me."
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