Teachers, teacher assistants, coaches and support staff — educators all — are among the most impactful people in many of our lives. We spend countless hours with them. They teach us lessons from books; they teach us life lessons.

That is important to remember as our educators have returned to public and private classrooms in St. Clair County — and the conditions under which they are expected to excel due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other outside stressors.

We always want to recognize and celebrate our educators for the important role they play in the lives of the youth of our community. Their guidance and instruction help determine the future of the community, for many of these youths will make up the community as the years move on.

But in this challenging time, we should perhaps be even more understanding of the stresses that our educators face given the pandemic. We should be even more aware of the valuable role they are playing, and more willing to provide them moral and other support as they provide our youth with the knowledge needed to succeed in the world.

Our community has been lucky — that is to say blessed — our skilled and caring educators have graced our local school systems throughout the years.

So if you happen to see an educator, whether in a parent-teacher conference, at the grocery store or at the ball field, let him or her know how much you appreciate their vital efforts on behalf of our children and in making our community the best it can be.

Thank a teacher. They will appreciate it — and more, they deserve it.