A Free Pep Talk

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By Andrea Delbanco

Editor In Chief, TIME for Kids

Teacher Appreciation Week starts on Monday. Many of us with school-age kids are aware of it, thanks to the countless sign-up sheets in our inboxes. As a parent, I wish I managed to find more meaningful ways to support my kids’ teachers than with flowers and donuts. But as a professional, it’s an ever-present goal: The editorial and education teams at TIME for Kids aim to make teachers’ lives a little easier every week.

In this week’s issues of TIME for Kids, which you can see for free here , one of our Kid Reporters speaks with the United States Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona, about the importance and impact of educators. A student in Missouri reports on an effort by kids to uplift one of their teachers, who’s from Ukraine. And we write about a public art project started by teachers Jessica Martin and Asherah Weiss, in Healdsburg, California. They invited their elementary school students to record pep talks for a telephone hotline they dubbed the PepToc Hotline, which launched in February and got nearly 5 million calls in its first six weeks.

When I first heard about the hotline, I dialed the number but didn’t get through. It felt too on-the-nose to even be ironic: I needed a pep talk, and was put on hold. But those kinks have been smoothed out, and I recommend you give it a try if you need a lift: 707-8PEPTOC. I could listen to the recorded laughter of kindergartners all day.

Have a great weekend! Feel free to write to me at andrea@time.com. And next week, please appreciate any and all teachers around you.

Best,
Andrea

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