This week honors two of the essential categories of people that Mr. Rogers would refer to as “the helpers”. This week is both Nurse and Teacher Appreciation Week. For each of these professions, COVID-19 has upended their typical day beyond their most challenging of moments.

Teachers have pivoted multiple directions in an effort to meet their students’ needs during this season of crisis schooling. Their hearts are breaking for these kids. They, too, have been struggling. We may not see it through the screens and uploads. For some, this pandemic has created an opportunity for creative license, and our kids have taken notice. They see you, dear teachers, sparking connections and reigniting passion. Thank you for all of the efforts you have taken to create a space where learning might happen. Thank you for holding space for your students to process this crisis on their own timeline. Thank you for showing up for the kids. Thank you for supporting parents who suddenly find themselves educators and aides. They have cried and worried. They have challenged their own capabilities, learned new things, created new approaches on the fly. They have taken the extra time to check in with our kids. They are relentlessly planning and collaborating with their peers to find ways to help our kids reach their potential. They do all these things because it is stitched into their hearts. They are teachers.

Nurses have donned a new kind of battle armor this season - ears, faces and foreheads marked from the masks and face shields they don for hours; a sea of gowns and gloves mark this pandemic. Some have lost their lives in efforts to save ours. They have cried and held the hands of loved ones who were denied those final moments with their families. They have isolated themselves from their own families so that they may keep them safe while they show up for this cause. They do all these things because it is stitched in their souls. They are nurses.

Thank you to these two very special groups of essential workers. I see you. You are strong and nimble. You are resilient and creative. You are, beyond this week, so very appreciated.