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When the Ohio County Board of Education honored its retiring educators this past week, it offered a staggering statistic. The combined experience of the retirees being honored totaled 477 years.
"You have been that shoulder for them to put their head on, you were that person that gave them that special pat on the back, you are the person that taught them math," Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller said. "You are all in this room and I can't thank you enough. … We could not do the things we do in this great county without the work that you have done over the years."
That is an amazing amount of experience, and a example of how teaching is more than a job, but a calling. Salaries would never be extravagant. Benefits have fluctuated. Yet that didn't matter. The most important thing for these school employees was to make their students days and lives better each day they walked through the doors.
That isn't exclusive to Ohio County. Schools throughout the Ohio Valley have teachers and staff who have spent their professional lives working hard to give students the best education they can.
And now many of them are passing the baton to the next generation, entrusting younger teachers with the reins of this mission. These retiring school employees, their experience and their wisdom will be missed dearly. It's up to that next generation to keep up the momentum.
Congratulations to these new retirees. You've completed a job well done.