I cannot choose just one teacher because I was blessed with many who inspired me to be what I am today. There is an old adage that says ‘they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.’ I think this sums up the totality of a great teacher…caring…knowing a child as a person, not a test score. Each child is an individual and needs to be treated as such. Today, teachers are forced to see them as a test score to be raised. Perhaps this is why we are losing so many children before they have a chance to love learning. Teachers cannot control the abuse the child receives at home, the violence the child observes, the drugs, alcohol and other toxic environments the child experiences. Teachers can only show a child that they care. I wish the legislatures could see schools as a place to teach children. Unfortunately, schools have become test driven. ‘Teach the child so he/she can pass the test.’ ‘We must raise our test scores, or the state will take away our funding.’ Children are our most precious resource. We need to treat them as such.