Teacher Appreciation Day

May is Teacher Appreciation Day and we encourage you to take the time to let all of the teachers who have inspired and influenced you throughout your life know you appreciate them. We’d like to take a moment to recognize some of the ways some of our team members have been impacted by teachers who took a special interest in them to motivate them to reach their full potential and to keep them out of trouble.

One of our team members had a teacher who noticed she would come to school 45 minutes early every day just to get out of a stressful home environment and started bringing her a coffee every morning and through those morning talks, she became someone she could rely on and confide in.

Another of our team members had a middle school teacher who stayed after school to work on assignments with him, wouldn’t judge or criticize him, and allowed him to just be himself. She also regularly communicated with his mother to check in on his progress. This actually led to him no longer skipping school because he knew she was checking up on him.

His high school principal was also a lasting influence. When his principal caught him and a friend smoking behind the school, he very loudly announced he was coming around the corner to give them time to “get rid of the evidence.” He talked to them about why it might be suspicious for them to be hanging around in that area and why they needed to be making better choices without ever letting on that they had been “caught”. Instead of addressing his behavior through punishment, he took the time to talk to him.

Not every bad choice leads to a criminal record, but a criminal record can impact a person for the rest of their life. A criminal conviction can cause many collateral consequences and affect eligibility for financial aid, would have to be disclosed on job or college applications, and a background check is usually required to obtain a professional license.

While not everyone will have a teacher that stands out in their life as making a significant impact, every person has the opportunity to be that person for someone else. Make a choice today to think about whose life you can impact in a positive way to help that person make good choices.

Our firm was built on the premise that a single bad decision should not hold someone back from all of life’s opportunities to be the best person they can be. If you are faced with criminal charges, it is important to work with an experienced criminal defense law firm to ensure your case is handled properly to get the best resolution, with the option to get your record sealed, so that you can keep as many opportunities as possible open to you in your life.