It’s been a huge graduation season for Jennifer Garner and her family. Not only did her oldest daughter Violet graduate from High School, but her youngest, son Samuel, who is now 12, graduated from Elementary School as well.
As a moment of reflection and thanks, Garner wrote an open letter to the Elementary School teachers that taught all three of her kids she shares with Ben Affleck.
In the message shared on Instagram, Garner wrote, “Dearest Teachers, Thank you for caring about my children with me, for tying their shoes and holding their hands.”
“Thank you for disciplining my kids when they’ve needed it and for offering more hugs than some children receive in a lifetime,” she continued. “Thank you for all of the hard work that goes into having high expectations, for buckling down and teaching them the discomfort and joy of tolerating frustration toward a great good.”
Garner then thanked the many educators her kids worked with over the years for becoming educators at all, “and for doing your jobs with your whole heart.”
“I’m sure that the demands and frustrations of the classroom can obfuscate the mission behind your place in it, but what’s more noble than teaching children—not a whole lot, as far as I can tell.”
Garner went on to praise the teachers for being “a safe haven for my family,” admitting the world can be “a lot for anyone.”
“So many children struggle with real loss and hardship that it feels selfish to want more for kids who have so much,” Garner adds. “But I wanted my three to have a safe space where they could focus on the business of being little, and where education and character were prioritized.”
Garner says she got that and so much more.
“What I didn’t know to want: teachers who were willing to dress up on theme for Halloween, to wait with baited breath for Zero the Hero, to choose the perfect book/science project/Spanish song, to travel with forty kids, to play hockey at lunch, to spend months working toward an art fair or performance or the incredible feat of filling in a globe with its countries and capitals.”
Garner concluded her message of gratitude with more gratitude calling the thirteen years spent at the school “beautiful.” Adding, “I cannot imagine our family landing anywhere better.”
Parents and teachers applauded Garner’s willingness to openly praise her childrens’ teachers.
“Reason 1,234,201 why I love you,” actress Christy Carlson Romano wrote.
“We need more parents like you,” a teacher added.
“This is why you’re one in a million. Thank you from a teacher who loves her job and has found immense joy in caring for my students.”