As the school year ends and hundreds of seniors across the region grasp diplomas, it would be easy to forget the important role teachers and school administrators play in the success of our students.

A good case in point is the recent news that Stanfield Elementary School Principal Lacey Sharp was named the Oregon Small Schools Association Principal of the Year.

Sharp received the award at the association’s spring conference in April.

Sharp’s award shines a bright light on the often unsung attributes and successes of those we charge to teach our children.

The influence of teachers and administrators on our youth is a pure one. Their goal isn’t to impact youth in a negative way. Teachers and administrators, whether they realize it or not, are one of the cornerstones of our culture and our future success as a nation. That is a lofty and seemingly heavy responsibility. Yet teachers are the apex of the mountain called education and they provide our youth with the fundamental building blocks to be successful.

All too often the role of teachers and administrators is lost through the prism of modern-day America where sound bites, bellowing rhetoric and attacks on culture, race and lifestyles rule the day.

Yet our teachers — in places such as Pilot Rock or Hermiston or Stanfield — carry the solemn responsibility of honing our greatest resources — our youth.

The future leaders of our counties and state and nation are fashioned in our public school system where teachers provide guidance and direction that has a long-term and thoughtful impact.

Our future success as a region and nation, then, rests to a large degree on those teachers who work classrooms in Pendleton or La Grande or Baker City.

The kind of education and guidance students receive is reflected back on our nation 10, 20 or even 30 years into the future.

That means those who decide on a career as a teacher or educator must understand their role is crucial to the future. Their influence, in many cases, will not be seen for decades but they will make an impact.

We rightfully celebrate our youth who have reached the stage and clutched a diploma. Yet we must not forget, nor marginalize, the importance of educators. Their duty and their commitment to our youth are critical and provide important building blocks for our collective future.