My New Hero

[Occhidiangela]

I would like to raise a glass in appreciation of teachers. My grandmother was a school teacher. One of my cousins is a special ed teacher, her current specialty being hearing impaired and deaf. Another of my cousins is a principle in Oklahoma. He spent twenty plus years as both teacher, and for a few years, as a football coach, preparing young people for their futures.

My high school English teacher was so tough, and so good, that my writing improved massively and I validated a semester of English for college by testing out. My daughter's choir instructor has lifted our high school choir program to one of the top in our region. My son's math teacher has gotten him excited about algebra. My HS chemistry teacher, Mr Smith, was both a fine teacher and a good swimming coach. He was (national or Virginia, I forget) Teacher of the Year in 1974 or 75.

Gris is a teacher. :D

I am probably biased, but I think teachers are wonderful folks who don't get paid enough for what they do. Teaching is a calling, not merely a job.

But I think this man, Laghmani, went above and beyond the call of teaching, at risk of his own life, for the benefit of others.

That makes him a hero in the proper sense of what a hero is.

I wonder if our government could award a Congressional Medal of Freedom to this man, or perhaps to his family. A number of folks who sacrificed less had an award pinned to their lapels while this brave man of principle was out making a difference at great personal risk.

London Daily Telegraph  December 17, 2005  Pg. 1
Taliban Execute Teacher In Front Of His Pupils For Educating GirlsBy Tom Coghlan, in Kabul

Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan have executed a school teacher in front of his pupils for refusing to comply with warnings to stop educating girls.

The attack took place on Thursday at a secondary school in Nadi Ali district, Helmand province, the scene of many Taliban attacks in recent months, according to the police, who learned of the incident yesterday.

About 4,000 British troops will be deployed to the province in April to combat an increasingly confident insurgency.

Pupils at the school said two armed men arrived by motorcycle. "They dragged the teacher from the classroom and shot him at the school gate," said Abdul Rahman Sabir, Helmand's police chief.

"He had received many warning letters from the Taliban to stop teaching, but he continued to do so happily and honestly - he liked to teach boys and girls." He identified the teacher by the single name of Laghmani.

Under the Taliban interpretation of Islamic Sharia law female education was banned, along with female employment.  Since the overthrow of the Taliban government by the US-led invasion of 2001, the Afghan government claims six million Afghan children have returned to school, many of them girls.

However, Taliban insurgents in the south have repeatedly targeted schools, burning many to the ground at night or issuing beatings or warnings to teachers.

Worth fighting for?

Occhi

[jahcs]

"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel."  -Socrates

Hopefully that flame has taken root in Afghanistan and the people will not let it go out.

he·ro    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (hîr)
n. pl. he·roes

2.  A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.
-Dictionary.com

I think the definition fits this case.

You could even go for this one too:

mar·tyr    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (märtr)
n.

2.  One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.
-Dictionary.com

[Yrrek]

I agree, teachers are wonderful people and they DO deserve much more money than they earn. My step-mom is a teacher, and I have met many of her friends who are wonderful people.