Community support is a vital part of school and student success. Students, teachers, administrators, and business owners all win when community members bring their expertise, talents, and ideas into the schools. All too often, schools only approach local businesses to sponsor events or donate money and goods. This set-up limits the possibility of the relationship and makes it feel like a business transaction. But when the people at businesses work closely with the people in schools, the relationship turns into a partnership—each side getting something they didn’t have before.

Many teachers describe the profession as a calling. Some may have even felt the yearning to teach before they were in school themselves. Lining up their teddy bears to lead storytime or bossing their siblings around. You’ve probably heard people say that a career in teaching won’t make you rich but it turns out the naysayers only have half the story.

That's the pain in the neck of every teacher: Most students dislike writing assignments. More than that, they try to avoid such tasks by all manner of means. You assign essays to help students organize thoughts and develop critical thinking, but their skepticism and frustration make it harder to teach writing to them. Good news is, you can help students fall in love with writing. Consider the below tricks to motivate and encourage them to learn and improve writing skills.

Women’s History Month has given us a good opportunity to recognize the many strides women have made towards workplace equality, particularly when it comes to STEM representation. Historical names like Sally Ride and Marie Curie stand alongside current tech powerhouses such as Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook) and Diane Greene (VMWare, Google). However, even though the overall workforce gap has closed significantly (46.8% of the workforce is female as of 2015), a significant wage gap still exists— a gap that widens as women age.

Every educator is familiar with the concept of literacy—the ability to read and write. A person who is illiterate, who cannot read or write, will inevitably struggle to get along in society. It’s impossible to go on to higher education or get a high-paying job without the ability to read and write. Even daily tasks, like reading a newspaper or filling out job applications, are difficult for an illiterate person.

In today’s world, literacy goes beyond just the basic ability to comprehend text. Today’s students will also need to master a new skill—digital literacy. Cornell University defines digital literacy as “the ability to find, evaluate, utilize, share, and create content using information technologies and the Internet.”

There is so much work and preparation that goes into being a great teacher. As a principal, you see what your teachers have to offer on a daily basis—from their deep relationships with students and families to their commitments toward improving their practice to the teamwork they demonstrate with their colleagues. Those reasons alone are why the stats about teacher turnover should be so concerning to you. Almost 16% of teachers leave the field each year, with 40%-50% of new teachers abandoning the profession within the first five years.