We celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week with the release of a video we created to honor teachers.

It has been almost two months since I reported on a project we started, to create a series of short videos that would celebrate teachers, students, parents and public schools, and encourage viewers to stand together for them at the Save Our Schools March this summer in Washington, DC.

We got a great response from many of you, who sent in photographs and Flickr feeds. Tom and Amy Valens, the talented film makers who created the movie August to June, have been hard at work, drawing on the material that was contributed, and a variety of video sources as well. The very first of the four videos is now ready, and we present it here:



And here is the script:

Here's to the teachers.

The ones who taught us to draw outside the lines.

The ones who opened wonderlands

of books and of numbers,

of questions and of curiosity.

The ones who went beyond just filling out bubbles

to get us to actually think for ourselves.

The best teachers do not give us all the answers.

The best teachers get us to question the answers we have been given.

We are standing with our teachers

at the Save Our Schools March on July 30 in Washington, DC.

Join us!



Please share this widely to spread the message.

And Amy and Tom are working on the remaining three spots. There are still a few images we need. These could be video or still images, of:

Parents and grandparents with kids--humor in the image is a plus.

A scene which includes parents, teachers, and kids. For example the end of the school day as parents are picking kids up, or a conference scene including all three.

At least 2 images to illustrate the "treadmills of standardized tests": students bent over their desks or looking bored.

Strong images of high school age students engaged in learning

A Wisconsin video showing protestors with signs (Save Our Schools? We Love Our Teachers?)

Please send any of these to me, at [email protected]

What do you think of our tribute to teachers? Can you stand with us this summer in DC?

