08/11/2026
“I touch the future. I teach.”
It is hard to believe August is here and another school year is beginning. It’s been 16 years since I experienced the excitement, anticipation and nervous energy of a new school year as an educator. I’ve been out of the classroom for years now, but the impact and deep rewards of my 30-year teaching career are still unfolding.
Those words of teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe have inspired me since 1986 when she spoke them: “I touch the future. I teach.” I believed those words then, but now I know them to be true. I see my students everywhere. The sweet ones, the nerds, the rascals, the leaders, the followers, the class clowns, the quiet ones, the ones who struggled, the ones who breezed through and the ones who tried my patience. I remember them.
They are all grown now, raising families, making their own decisions, working, voting and serving their communities. They are my doctors, nurses, lawyers, loan officers, and investment advisors. They check me out at Walmart, assist me at the bank and pave our roads. They work in factories that provide things we need. They care for my mother at the long-term care facility.
And yes, some are sitting in jail. Some are fighting addictions. Some are struggling to find their way. Some have made painful choices. But the truth is, every one of us carries own struggles.
This reminds me of something important: Our students are not just their grades. They are not their mistakes. They are not the worst decision they have ever made. They are human beings still becoming who they were created to be.
As a young teacher I don’t think I understood the weight of the privilege I had been given. I thought I was teaching children reading, writing, science, math, and all the other subject matter required. But I was teaching much more. I was teaching perseverance. I was teaching that mistakes don’t have to define you. Learn from them and move on. I was teaching someone believed in you, I was teaching kindness, responsibility, courage and responsibility. And sometimes, perhaps without knowing it, I was giving a child a little more hope to carry into tomorrow. And the beautiful thing is they taught me, too.
Somewhere, years from now, you may find yourself standing in a grocery store, sitting in a doctor’s office, walking into a bank, or visiting a nursing home – and suddenly realize that a child who once sat in your classroom is now caring for you, serving you or caring for someone you love. That is when you understand. You really did touch the future.
So, to every educator beginning another school year, especially those who are tired before the first bell ever rings, please remember what you do really matters. On the days you feel unnoticed and unappreciated, it matters. On the days the paperwork and interruptions seem endless, it matters. On the day a difficult situation with a student makes you question everything, it matters. On the days you wonder if they were listening at all, it matters. It matters because they matter and because you may never know the full reach of your influence.
You may never see all the lives you touched. But one day, if you are fortunate enough to look back, you may realize that those faces in your classroom became the adults who are helping shape the very world you live in. You are not just teaching subjects but children. The very children who will shape the future.
So may your classroom this year be filled with encouragement, kindness, gentleness, grace, patience, persistence, perseverance, laughter, joy, peace, acceptance and love.
And when the year gets tough, remember the incredible privilege you have been given,.
Stand tall. Say a prayer. Take a breath. Look around your room.
YOU TOUCH THE FUTURE.
YOU TEACH.
-Robin
