Helen Vollmer’s POV - Unheralded Heroes:Teachers

 By Helen Vollmer, President, Edelman Southwest

It’s clear that education in this country needs an overhaul. Just look at Texas, where according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, we rank 49th in verbal SAT scores, 36th in senior graduation rates and 33rd in teacher salaries. Unforgivable. But while governmental budget deficits and antiquated policies and teaching methods are widening the gap in what needs to be done to reform schools versus what is achievable, I’d like to stop a minute to thank teachers, past and present, as unheralded heroes.

There are very few among us that when asked, “Who made a difference in your life?” can’t point to a teacher who gave us new direction, inspiration and knowledge.

For me, this was Mrs. Baker who in 2nd grade recognized I needed glasses to see the blackboard, Mrs. Sparham in grade school who instilled self-confidence, and high school’s Mrs. Zuschlag who infused me with a love of Latin American literature and a more global world view. Thanks also goes to Bernard Leskowitz, a Radio-TV Professor at UT at the time, who encouraged me to write via seriously critical reviews of my work. They may not remember me, but I remember them and how they changed the course of my life.

For more than a decade, I’ve worked with education clients to help them and their institutions - whether at primary, secondary or university levels - find their voice. Teachers, at their best, are mentors and guides who lead us down new paths and force us to find the best in ourselves. And while there are those in the classroom who clearly shouldn’t be there, all professions are touched by the incapable or, almost worse, the simply mediocre. There are plenty of educators who are gifted and exceptional. Teachers, as a profession should, on the whole, be revered and treated as the leaders they truly are.

The education system may be broken, but the fault doesn’t lie necessarily with teachers. The fault more appropriately lies with all of as community members, students, parents, and individuals who too easily find blame but don’t step up to the plate to be change agents. If we support teachers and the challenges they face every day in the classroom by ferociously advocating for reform with our elected and appointed officials as well as with local school boards and administrators, then teachers at least have a chance to focus on what’s truly important: making our children knowledgeable, well-rounded and productive citizens.

One last shout out—to my mom, Helen Dromgoole Vollmer, and her mother, Helen Deermont Dromgoole- who were amazing classroom teachers but as great life lesson coaches, instilled a love of learning in me and my siblings. Well done, ladies. It’s time to pay it forward.