A Thank You Upon Graduation

High school graduations across the Kansas City metro are scheduled over the course of the next few weeks. Graduating seniors have sent out their graduation announcements, made lists of what they plan to buy with their graduation gift money, have made final decisions on where they will attend college in the fall, and are ready to be the little fish in a big pond again.

Most graduates have exchanged the stress and struggle of the college application process with the joys of entering the collegiate phase of their young lives, much like a mother does after enduring the pains of childbirth. Although the National Candidate's Reply Deadline (May 1) has passed and most seniors are already considering themselves college students, one last task from their college search may remain: thank you notes for letters of recommendation.

College applicants are known to log hours upon hours perfecting the essay they will submit with applications for admission and scholarship. And almost as often, the teachers those students ask to write letters of recommendation on their behalf spend an equal amount of time crafting letters that will enhance the student's application for admission and show the review committee the merits of the applicant from a teacher's perspective, both inside and outside of the classroom.

All too often, those teachers go unthanked for providing this service for their students. Writing letters of recommendation falls into that pervasive "other duties as assigned" category. Teachers have taken time, outside of their school responsibilities, to write these letters, often well after their classrooms have emptied or even while at home after putting their own children to bed. 

Although teachers are not in their chosen profession for the recognition, it is important to honor how often they go above and beyond what is required in order to assist and support their students. 

This thank you does not need to be an extensive letter like the one written for each student's application, but rather, just a heartfelt message on stationary or on a note card. No gift other than words need be included.

At a time when faculty are just as, or even more, exhausted than the graduating seniors, such a simple gesture of thanks is often all a teacher needs to be reminded why they come to work each day and to be rejuvenated for another year of creating positive impact on the minds, hearts, and lives of students as they prepare for their own future careers.