As the new school year begins, all of us at North Dakota United want to extend a warm welcome to our new and returning K-12 teachers, K-12 education support professionals, and higher education faculty and staff. Whether this is your first year in education or your 30th, your decision to serve our students and communities is something worth celebrating.
For our teachers, you understand that great teaching and learning are predicated on great relationships. Those relationships and the work you do together have implications that extend far beyond your classroom. When you inspire curiosity, help students discover their strengths, and provide encouragement, you are doing more than just preparing them for the opportunities and challenges ahead. You are preparing them to shape the future of North Dakota.
But you’re not doing it alone! I think that we can all agree that the work of professional classroom teachers would be infinitely more difficult — if not impossible — without the staunch support of our education support professionals. Our paraprofessionals, bus drivers, custodians, secretaries, food service workers, technology professionals and others play fundamental roles in our schools. They create safe, efficient, welcoming and supportive environments in which our kids learn and thrive. Our schools simply could not function without them.
And to our colleagues in higher education: Welcome back.
Faculty and staff at our colleges and universities educate and support the next generation, conduct research, and contribute enormously to the cultural and civic vitality of North Dakota. Your work also results in our university system being nothing less than a major economic engine that drives our state’s economy and enhances ND’s academic reputation.
I would be remiss to not recognize an equally important part of the ND United family: our non-education public employees.
Every day, year-round, public employees are doing the work that keeps North Dakota moving. They maintain our roads and highways, care for vulnerable North Dakotans, administer vital programs, and keep state, county and municipal governments functioning. Much of this work happens quietly and, too often, without the recognition it deserves. But it matters deeply to all of us.
From the classroom to the highway, from the college campus to the county courthouse, public service professionals positively impact the lives of our friends and neighbors every single day.
So, as we begin a new academic year, let’s celebrate by recognizing the value of every public service profession and remember that our greatest strength comes from working together. Whether you are educating our future or providing the vital public services that North Dakotans have come to expect and deserve, please know that all of us at ND United appreciate your dedicated service and your membership in NDU!
