OPINION: To all the teachers out there...thank you

Growing up with a mum as a teacher, I know first hand you can't just choose the profession for the amount of holidays.

IT TAKES a special person to be a teacher.

It takes dedication, compassion and above all else, a desire to make the next generation a great one.

There's plenty of challenges which come with the profession and a ridiculous amount of work put in behind the scenes.

Unfortunately, much of this work is unappreciated.

As teachers across the Fraser Coast pack up their classrooms for another year, I believe they deserve some recognition.

There is one teacher in particular I would like to show my appreciation for - my mum.

Mum, you're nearing the end of your career as a teacher after years in the profession.

What a journey it has been.

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Growing up, I have watched you prepare lessons for your classes and wrack your brain over what art activity the kids should do on a Friday afternoon.

I've watched you take work home with you when you should be relaxing and I've witnessed you spend hours at the dining room table marking assessments and writing report cards.

We'd rarely see our dining room table because it would be covered in school work and almost every room in the house had a trace of 'teacher stuff'.

Growing up with a mum as a teacher, I know first hand you can't just choose the profession for the amount of holidays.

Educators like you, mum, spend a huge chunk of their holidays preparing for the next school term.

To all the teachers out there, without you, the young people of our world would be lost.

You build them up and help them to realise their dreams.

Although some people may make this seem untrue, I hope you know how much of an impact you make on people's lives.

Mum, you're worth a million thank-you's.

If there's one thing I'd want you to know as you close the door on this chapter of your life - it's that you're appreciated.

Without the teachers I have grown up with, I doubt I would be where I am today.