From the Classroom to the Cloud: Honoring Teachers Who Make It All Possible

Each May, Teacher Appreciation Week offers a moment of pause, a collective breath to recognize the people who make learning possible every single day. It’s a chance to say thank you, but more importantly, it’s a reminder: education doesn’t happen without teachers. And teaching is far more than a job; it’s an act of courage, creativity, and commitment. 

I’ve had the privilege of seeing that work up close. As a high school science teacher, a school principal, and a state administrator of virtual learning during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve watched educators do what they do best: show up for students, no matter what. 

Before “agile” became a tech-industry buzzword, teachers were the original agile professionals. They’ve always been iterating, adapting lessons on the fly, meeting students where they are, and solving for what’s possible under pressure. They manage classrooms, respond to emergencies (both educational and emotional), and somehow still manage to spark curiosity in young minds. 

And when the world turned upside down in 2020, educators didn’t miss a beat. They became tech troubleshooters, virtual learning designers, and lifelines for students and families navigating a brand-new world. They embraced change not because it was easy but because it was necessary. That’s innovation in its purest form. 

At Breakthrough Technologies, we draw daily inspiration from that spirit. We design solutions that empower the people who make learning happen, teachers and administrators alike. Whether it’s building formative assessment tools, supporting learning platforms, or making content more accessible through open-source tools like Drupal, we work to ensure our technology reflects the needs, challenges, and brilliance of the people in the classroom. Teachers don’t need more complexity; they need support. They don’t need more red tape, they need tools that work. And most of all, they deserve to be seen, celebrated, and equipped for success. 

So, this week, we honor the educators. The ones who spark a love of learning, who build bridges with families, who rewrite their lesson plans at midnight because something didn’t land the way they hoped. The ones who teach during snow days, Zoom outages, and fire drills and still manage to smile. 

And while we’re at it, let’s raise a coffee mug (likely gifted by a student) to their humor, too. After all, if you can survive a room full of 10th graders and a district-wide Wi-Fi outage, you deserve a medal and maybe your own tech support team. To the teachers past, present, and future: thank you. Your impact is immeasurable, and your work is the reason we do ours.