Photo: kpintoledo / TikTok / Instagram
This is just a typical day for her, and it doesn't end when school dismisses.
By Megan Quinn — Written on Apr 03, 2023
Only teachers could save the day by supergluing a broken art project, walking a sick student down the nurse’s office, and piecing together lesson plans on short notice — all without a cape.
It is no secret that teachers are the unsung heroes that we so often take for granted. Despite juggling multiple tasks at once without a break, they rarely complain or expect gratitude.
One teacher on TikTok is proving that her job consists of so much more than we believe, and she does all of it with a positive attitude and an unwavering mindset.
The teacher’s day includes helping students find housing, winter coats, food, and cash all while teaching.
Katie Peters is a high school teacher in Toledo, Ohio. She is clearly enthusiastic about and dedicated to her job, as she demonstrates on her social media accounts. She posts several videos detailing her typical day, which is nothing short of chaotic. Still, she goes above and beyond her role as a teacher to help students with their needs in and outside of the classroom.
In a TikTok video that has received over 378,000 likes and 18,000 comments, Peters recaps one of her days teaching throughout six class periods in high school as well as substituting for other teachers.
“I helped a young man find safe housing, I found a winter coat for a girl who didn’t have one, I located a student’s missing backpack and arranged for a replacement Chromebook for that student,” she reports. “I gave a student a little bit of cash for a haircut, I made sure that another student had enough food to last them through the weekend.”
Peters's day did not end there. In fact, it was just getting started.
“I listened to a lengthy story about a puppy, I sat with a young girl who was dealing with cramps and helped support one of my male students dealing with his first heartbreak,” she says. The teacher also supported students by helping them find their classrooms, helping them with an art project, and writing a card for a student who was struggling emotionally.
When school hours ended, Peters's day was still far from complete.
She attended an after-school meeting, tutored a student, and went back to her classroom to write another student a letter of recommendation for college that she had just been alerted of that morning.
When she returned home, she spent four hours composing lesson plans for her classes. “[They were] fun, inviting, and exciting lesson plans that could, at the drop of a hat, need to go virtual without any warning,” Peters says.
Despite all of her hard work, Peters claims that she and every other teacher she works with do not expect praise. “No teacher I know wants a pat on the back or gratitude. What they do need is grace.”
Peters encourages people to have patience with teachers who are working round the clock to improve students’ learning experience.
She has an important message that she wants parents especially to make note of. “I want you to know in your child’s school, 30 to 50 teachers and support staff did [what I did] today, and will do it again tomorrow,” she shares. “It’s what we signed up for, it’s what we love, it makes us fulfilled. It’s also why we’re tired.”
Peters claims that teachers work harder than many people believe them to, even if it does not appear that way. There is always crucial behind-the-scenes work being done. Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic when schools were exclusively virtual, teachers were still working tirelessly to make the most of the situation for their students.
Peters was left taken aback and “shattered” when one parent commented that “teachers have finally decided to work again” regarding her school returning to in-person classes. However, it is the love that she reserves for the students that propel her to work through any negativity and hardships.
“I would encourage you to recognize that even if you believe that teachers and education staff are not working the hardest that they ever worked in the last two years, that nobody in the history of ever has been motivated by ugly,” she reports. “Loving kids is the purest form of beauty that exists, and it’s always gonna beat your ugly.”
Other TikTok users praised Peters for all that she does and fellow teachers resonated with her words.
“Every school needs a teacher like you!” one user commented. “My wife is a teacher. Watching her work through the pandemic showed me that your profession is the most underpaid and underappreciated job in America,” another user shared. “From one teacher to another, thank you for your time and devotion,” another user wrote.
So if you know a teacher in your life and you haven’t done so already, give them a compliment for all of the work they put into educating their students, all while never expecting to be recognized as the superheroes they truly are.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.