Good teachers are worth their weight in gold. They are, along with good parents, the people on the front lines of the battle for our society’s future.

In recent years as parents became younger and younger, and often unmarried, we’ve expected more and more from teachers.

Not only are they supposed to instill knowledge in the minds of young people, but they’re also increasingly forced to play the role of pseudo-parents as well.

For people not in the education field, it’s easy to look to the teaching field and be overcome with a naïve sense of jealousy. We’ve often heard people say, “I wish I could get all the holidays off and the whole summer, too.”

In reality though, teachers — particularly good teachers like the eight that were recently recognized as the best among all teachers locally — work hard.

Just showing up for classes and going through material may not be terribly difficult on the surface.

But doing it well, educating and inspiring children simultaneously, that’s not just a job, it’s a calling and those who are really good at doing it, well, they have a gift.

For all of the great teachers in our community — especially those who go above and beyond the minimum call of duty —we say “thank you.”