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Teacher Appreciation Week: Meet the educators shaping young minds

10News went into the classroom to see how teachers really feel.

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — It's Teacher Appreciation Week!

As the school year comes to an end, have you taken the time to thank your child's teacher? Think about how much time they've invested in your child, five days a week, eight hours a day.

When you think about education, it's easy to get caught up in the policies and politics of what's kids are learning, how it's being taught and more recently their safety and security.

But what about the teachers? Why do they choose this tough, sometimes thankless job?

Let's go into the classroom so you can see things from a teacher's perspective.

10News asked three questions:

1. What do you love about teaching?

2. What do you wish all parents knew about your class?

3. What advice do you have for other teachers?

At Pinellas County's Plumb Elementary, Nicole Kenngott teaches fifth grade. This is her 10th year of teaching.

She answered the three questions below:

10News: What do you love about teaching?

Kenngott: "I get things at this job that other professions don't get who have a huge paycheck. Knowing that I'm playing such a role and impacting hundreds of kids in my lifetime, who needs a big paycheck?"

10News: What do you wish all parents knew?

Kenngott: "I know parents are busy and I know most of my students have working parents. I'm a working parent. I have two toddlers at home. I completely understand the stresses parents are put on and teachers understand that."

"We have to have that communication between home and at school to know that we are a community and we are a team and we all have the best interest of their child at heart."

10News: What advice do you have for other teachers?

Kenngott: "I think if you can just have them be excited about what they're learning and be flexible. And teach to the kids that you have in front of you, not the kids you learned about when you were going to college, but the kids who are in front of you right now."

Related: The 17 best deals and freebies for Teacher Appreciation Day and week

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