'Pandemic means trauma': That's especially true for the worried heroes who teach our children

Not so long ago, we talked a lot about the heroes among us.

This was just last year, after COVID had driven so many of us into isolation and we were months away from a lifesaving vaccine. We readily acknowledged the courage of others: Medical workers who risked their lives as hospitals flooded with dying COVID patients. Grocery store employees who continued to stock shelves with food and goods delivered by truckers who drove through the night. Delivery workers who kept our pantries full and restaurants open.

And teachers. My goodness, the teachers. So many conversations about how we’d had no idea how hard they worked until parents tried to supervise their children’s remote learning while juggling the daily slog of home and jobs.