“I touch the future. I teach.”
Those were the words of Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space. Her life would ultimately end 73 seconds into flight, when the space shuttle Challenger broke apart after takeoff in 1986. Her words honored every teacher.
Two Wisconsin teachers were taken from us Oct. 9 in a tragic traffic accident: David Novaez, who taught German at Westosha Central High School in Salem, and his wife, Kristin, who taught chorus at Union Grove High School. Their deaths prompted outpourings of grief, gratitude and heart-felt memories from hundreds of their students.
The devotion to these two teachers is in sharp contrast to how their peers were treated this spring in Madison. Educators were subjected to degrading comments from politicians, pundits and the people. From insults as to their worth (“they are paid far too much”) to the demeaning of their profession, teachers had to endure the wrath of the public in the name of budget-cutting.