雙語故事:美國的教師節

Tuesday of the first full week of May, will be National Teachers' Day every year, a time for honoring teachers and recognizing the lasting contributions they make to our lives. The actual date varies from year to year. That whole week is designated Teacher Appreciation Week by the National PTA. It's a time to strengthen support and respect for teachers and the teaching profession. The history of Teacher Day goes back to 1944.

　　5月份第一個滿周的星期二，是國家的教師節，一個向廣大教師們致敬和表達謝意的日子。每一年教師節的日期都是不同。教師節所在的那一個星期被家庭教師協會指定爲教師感恩周，是一個對教師、對教學職業更加支持和尊重的時期。教師節的歷史要追溯到1944年。

　　The origins of National Teacher Day are a bit murky, but it's known that an Arkansas teacher, Mrs. Mattye Whyte Woodridge, began corresponding with political and education leaders as early as 1944 about the need for a national day honoring teachers. One of the leaders she wrote to was Eleanor Roosevelt, who persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day in 1953.

教師節的起源說起來有點悽慘，阿肯色州教師Mrs. Mattye Whyte Woodridge從1944年起就開始遊說當時國家的行政官員和教育官員建立一個教師節來向教師致敬和表達謝意，直到1953年，收到過她的信的一位名叫Eleanor Roosevelt的官員才說服第81屆議會的議員們同意建立一個全國性的教師節。

　　In the late 1970s, the National Education Association(NEA), its Indiana and Kansas state affiliates, and its local affiliate in Dodge City, Kansas, all lobbied Congress on behalf of creation of a national day celebrating teachers. Congress declared March 7, 1980 as National Teacher Day for that year only.

　　在七十年代末，聯邦教育協會（NEA），它的印地安州和堪薩斯州會員，Dodge城的居民們，都去遊說議會的會員建立一個讚美教師的節日，議會最後只確定了1980年的教師節是該年的3月7日。

　　NEA and its affiliates continued to observe Teacher Day on the first Tuesday in March until 1985, when NEA and the National PTA established Teacher Appreciation Week as the first full week of May. The NEA Representative Assembly then voted to make the Tuesday of that week National Teacher Day.

聯邦教育協會（NEA）和它的會員一直到1985年都堅持在3月份的第一個星期二作爲國家的教師節。直到聯邦教育協會（NEA）和聯邦家庭教師協會（NPTA）確定3月份的第一個完整週爲教師感恩周，聯邦教育協會（NEA）也最後敲定該周的星期二爲國家教師節