The Schoolteacher

From The Seattle Star, April 7, 1913. 
 By Berton Braley.
 

 She’s much more important than presidents are
     Or other officials of state;
 In HER hands is power to make or to mar
     Our national future and fate;
 The men of tomorrow are hers for today
     To counsel and pilot and guide.
 With patience and love she will show them the way
     To lives that are worthy of pride.
 
 She is molding the thoughts of the girls and the boys
     To whom we must leave our tomorrows;
 She learns of their every-day pleasures and joys
     And shares in their pains and their sorrows;
 The youth of the country is put in her care
     To learn of the way they should go;
 She gives them her best—and a little to spare
     Which only the children can know.
 
 We know how she works and how nobly she serves
     With all of her soul and her heart,
 Devoting her strength and her health and her nerves
     To playing her excellent part,
 And so it’s our pleasure and even our boast
     The way we are paying our debts,
 Since we give her a salary equal (almost)
     To that which the janitor gets.