If you plan for a year, plant a seed. If for ten years, plant a tree.
If for a hundred years, teach the people.
When you sow a seed once, you will reap a single harvest.
When you teach the people, you will reap a hundred harvests.

                                                   -Kuan Chung

Hello Ann Arbor Public Schools Students, Staff, Parents and Community,

It is a great day in the Ann Arbor Public Schools as we pause to commemorate National Teacher Appreciation Week. Over the coming days, our staff, students, parents, leaders and community will honor and celebrate our wonderful teachers. Here in the AAPS, we are mindful of the gift of our highly competent, committed and caring teachers on every day, and we welcome the opportunity to share our appreciation and celebrate at schools around the district during this special week.

We are grateful for the many quality teachers of our Ann Arbor Public Schools and I want to thank you, teachers, for the profound and positive difference you make in the lives of our students, their families, and our AAPS community each day.

We are fortunate in Ann Arbor that for so many among us teaching is a calling, even more than a profession, and I see that 'higher calling' played out in classrooms every day across the AAPS.  Our teachers are amazing, and the powerful impact effective teachers make on the lives of our students is significant.

Effective teachers serve as 'game-changers' for our students every day, and we are privileged in Ann Arbor Public Schools that our students thrive under the watchful guidance of a constellation of quality teachers across our classrooms and schools.

To enjoy some extra inspiration over this week, I hope that you will take a few minutes to check out the AAPS District News “Exceptional” profiles series, where Editor Jo Mathis regularly features articles highlighting our teachers.

These teacher profiles share the beautiful, individual stories of some of our best and brightest, everyday heroes in the classroom. I know that you will enjoy learning more about – Phyllis Newman, preschool teacher at Mitchell Elementary, Muneer Khalid, Strategies for Success teacher at Scarlett Middle School, and Amy Van Appledorn, science teacher at Huron High School who were profiled in recently featured articles.

Better yet, together let’s celebrate the story of each of our wonderful AAPS teachers during this Teacher Appreciation Week. I know that you will join me in honoring and thanking our teachers for all that they do every day on behalf of our AAPS students.

Jeanice K. Swift

Superintendent of Schools
Ann Arbor Public Schools