Labor Day
Honoring the Work Behind Our Nation’s Future
As Labor Day approaches, many think of it as the unofficial end of summer — a time for backyard barbecues, last swims, and a long weekend. But the heart of this holiday runs much deeper. Labor Day was created to honor the American worker — the people who have built, grown, taught, healed, and shaped this country with their time, sweat, and skill. And in today’s classrooms, that labor continues in powerful, often unseen ways.
🧑🏫 The Educator’s Labor of Love
Teachers are some of the most essential laborers in our society. Their work isn’t just about delivering curriculum; it’s about cultivating minds, fostering safety, nurturing resilience, and preparing each generation to contribute to a better world.
This work goes far beyond contracted hours. Teachers labor through late nights, weekend planning, and emotional investment in the success of every student. They manage classrooms with grace, despite limited resources, shifting expectations, and ever-evolving needs.
Labor Day is a time to honor that work. To say, “What you do matters. You are builders of the future.”
👩🎓 The Labor of Learning
Yes, students labor too. For children and teens, school is their full-time job. Learning takes effort, courage, and persistence. Many students work hard to overcome personal challenges, language barriers, academic struggles, or social-emotional hurdles just to show up and try again each day.
Labor Day is a reminder to celebrate students’ efforts—to say, “Your growth is your work. And we see it.”
What This Means for Our Country
When we honor labor, we honor the value of human dignity, contribution, and care. And there are few more powerful acts of labor than nurturing the minds and hearts that will shape our communities, solve tomorrow’s problems, and carry forward the legacy of equity, justice, and innovation.
Supporting teachers and students is not just an investment in education—it’s a commitment to the nation we want to build.
💛 A Call to Appreciation
So this Labor Day, let’s take a moment between cookouts and parades to do the following:
- Thank a teacher who has changed your life or your child’s.
- Acknowledge a student working hard to grow and learn.
- Advocate for the resources schools need to thrive.
- Reflect on the labor—seen and unseen—that makes learning possible.
Let’s celebrate not just the past contributions of workers, but the daily labor happening in every classroom—work that is shaping our collective future.
I am a school counselor turned counselor educator, professor, and author helping educators and parents to build social, emotional, and academic growth in ALL kids! The school counseling blog delivers both advocacy as well as strategies to help you deliver your best school counseling program.
I'm a mother, grandmother, professor, author, and wife (I'll always be his). Until October 20, 2020, I lived with my husband, Robert (Bob) Rose, in Louisville, Ky. On that awful day of October 20,2020, my life profoundly changed, when this amazing man went on to be with Jesus. After Bob moved to Heaven, I embraced my love of writing as an outlet for grief. Hence, the Grief Blog is my attempt to share what I learned as a Counselor in education with what I am learning through this experience of walking this earth without him. My mission is to move forward with my own healing as well as to help others in grief move forward to see joy beyond this most painful time.
