It’s Teacher Appreciation Week. Actually, when you think about it, every week should be teacher appreciation week.

These heroes, under-recognized and usually underpaid, perform virtual miracles in getting our kids’ faces out of their screens and aimed toward something more educational—like a book, or a demonstration.

It’s a real pleasure to look today at the sweet comments of the preschoolers regarding their mothers. They come, of course, from kids who are pretty much pre-screen. How different these praises would read a few years later, after the kids have become more used to what they see online and on TV.

Our teachers have the talent and wisdom to bring learning to our children in ways that bypass the ubiquitous screens and that will make the information stick. Hopefully, they will lead those kids to seek out more information as they mature.

I don’t know if all the local schools are celebrating their educational staff this week, but we here at The Mountain-Ear certainly are. We cherish the dedicated, often-maligned, and heroic teachers in the Boulder and Gilpin school districts. To Our Teachers!