President Obama is one of the most important people in the world today. He is tasked with making sure nearly 320 million people living in the U.S. have a high standard of living, working with world leaders to bring a peace to all nations, and don’t forget to mention the nearly 7,100 nuclear warheads he has at his disposal. So what could a man that holds so much power have in common with most teenagers?

      Believe it or not, Obama was once a bright-eyed high school student just like myself and 55 million other high school students in the U.S.A. today. One might be confused by how Obama transformed from a child to the most powerful man in the nation, but the answer is simple: Teachers.

      If Obama had learned about economics from a bad economics teacher in high school, he would have never been able to see us through the recession of 2008, or if he had never taken a U.S. history class from an interesting teacher, he may never understand the complexities of U.S. foreign policies.

      We as a nation are only as good as our teachers are, that’s the bottom line. While some choose to make the “those who can’t teach” argument, one would be oblivious not to notice the  impact teachers have on a student’s life. Every single person, bad or good, right or wrong, rich or poor, is the product of their schooling. Education is what drives social and cultural change, and therefore those who act as educators are those who steer the nation.

     As my high school career draws to a close, I look back with many happy memories and the feeling that I received a quality education in the public school system. Comparable to other public school districts, the Sioux Falls School District is above average in nearly every category, and I don’t believe that that happened by chance, but because of the teachers in our school district.

     So as my last days at LHS approaches, I look back to the teachers who somehow made subjects like geometry and environmental science interesting and fun and I realize that the educators who I was lucky enough to have truly deserved to be paid so much more than they were. Not only did they make the subject matter fun and easy to learn, they also created a productive work space, which is a whole lot easier said than done.

     Teachers educate, and therefore mold every single U.S. citizen, so why do we insist on trying to short them when it comes time to pay them? The person who teaches the doctor anatomy or the person who teaches the astronaut physics are undoubtedly a key part of this society, so why do they make but a fraction of what their students make?

     I don’t claim to understand the reasoning behind the answers to the questions posed above and many other questions in regard to low teacher pay, but I do understand the importance of those who have educated me. As I depart from my primary schooling, I give a huge thank you to each and every teacher I have interacted with in the Sioux Falls School District. As a country we should aim to give the teachers the money they deserve for the work they do.