During an early morning staff development day, principal, Bill August with the help from Nikki Donato, instructional coach, asked all of the teachers at Big Spring High school why they teach. The #WHYITEACH paragraph was intended to be a fun, spontaneous activity to give the teachers a positive start to their day.

Schools all around the country have used #WHYITEACH in a similar fashion. This is a trending topic on Twitter for educators from district to district. Many, if not most, teachers said the basics, “To prepare the students for the ‘real world’.” However, why they actually teach seems to be far more complex than what they wrote on paper. The idea behind having teachers write why they teach is to reinforce the fact that what they do here is important. “If we can get the teachers to realize that what they do is vital and valuable, then I feel as if we have accomplished something big. Sometimes teachers forget why they’re here and I think its important to reaffirm all of the hard work they’ve done.” said August. Being able to go from classroom to classroom with smiling teachers waving and reading the small poster on their door stating why they teach gives the opportunity to capture the core of being a teacher.

With a shortage of upcoming potential teachers, it is also important to ask the teachers why this is happening. One out of 4 educators said almost the exact same thing. Reasons include low pay, insufficient classroom resources, and so many testing requirements and teaching guidelines that they feel they have no flexibility and too little authentic instructional time. This is not necessarily focused in on this specific geographic location but in many states, this is a problem. However, having all of these negatives for why people do not teach, the teachers at the high school managed to find a place in their heart continue shaping the future for many to come.

“To be a part of the learning and teaching process, and to give the kids that ‘ah ha’ moment is truly beautiful.” explained Michael Mcvitty, Big Spring art teacher. #WHYITEACH has had an exceptional outcome with wildly diverse answers. However, all of the responses had something similar, they all do it for the kids.