We're all about being THANKFUL for TEACHERS!

Teachers don’t get enough credit. I get worn out with my three; multiply that by almost 10, add a pretty significant agenda and BAM!, you have a teacher’s daily routine.  It’s even possible that not all children are as well behaved as mine (cough), so I have a lot of respect for someone who chooses teaching as their profession. I recently spent lunch supervising my daughter’s first grade spanish immersion class at Kalamazoo Christian. Who’s up for a few rounds of hangman en espanol? [Answer: Pick me!]

So what can we do to help? Some of you volunteer your time on a regular basis, many of us express our appreciation whenever we see our kids teacher, but is there something more we can do. While I work on ways to answer that personally, I’ve decided to launch a regular teacher appreciation event here at Drake Road Orthodontics. I’m asking my patients to write a short essay explaining why their teacher is so great and deserves to be recognized. We will collect the essays, pick a winner and give that teacher a dinner for two at Nonla Vietnamese Street Food in Mattawan. Never heard of them? They are only number 22 on Yelp’s top 100 restaurants IN THE COUNTRY! Check them out here http://www.nonlavietnamesestreetfood.com/ . We’ll also throw in something extra to buy things for the classroom! To kick off this new program I’m going to introduce you to a recent patient Mr. Tim McMillen. Tim left a very successful career in financial advising to go back to school and become a teacher (yep, really). He currently is a math teacher at Kalamazoo Country Day School. If you are in Mr. McMillen’s class pay attention. Not only will he make sure your math skills are up to snuff, he might just throw in an investment tip for extra credit! Thank you, thank you Mr. Tim McMillen!