If You Thought the Note By a Teacher Urging Her Colleagues Not to Walk Out in Protest Was Good, Wait Until You See the Entire Thing

Kendra Crews, 26, made headlines this week when a Facebook note to her fellow teachers urging them to resist staging a “walkout” protest was picked up by news outlets including WCNC-TV and TheBlaze.

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Kendra Crews (image source: Kendra Crews)

And TheBlaze caught up with the Statesville, N.C., school teacher to ask her more about what prompted her message and the story behind the proposed walkout. One interesting nugget? It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing: She actually took weeks drafting her message.

“When our superintendent emailed us about the ‘walk-in’ or ‘walk-out’ situation, there was not even a question in my mind about what I would do,” Crews, who teaches third and fourth grades at East Iredell Elementary, told TheBlaze in an email.

“I had been thinking about what I could post on Facebook to urge more volunteers in to help our school out that day,” she wrote. “I had thought about it for a couple of weeks and then it was time to share.”

North Carolina educators are upset with recent steps the state has taken to rein in education spending, including the elimination of raises, tenure, and extra pay for teachers with Masters Degrees. Educators are also upset with the "creation of vouchers to allow low-income and special-needs students to attend private schools," according to Technician Online.

So upset, in fact, that a group supporting the state's teachers at one point put together a Facebook page titled, “NC Teachers Strike!” urging teachers to stage a walkout on Nov. 4.

Crews, who moved from Florida to Statesville in August 2012, didn’t think this was an acceptable course of action for professional educators.

“I sat down at my computer on Sunday evening, November 3, to share not only my thoughts, but my heart,” she told TheBlaze.

“The post was not meant to be a rant nor to focus on anything political. I don't get into political debates because they just go on and on because everyone has their own opinion. So the purpose of my post was to share a teacher's heart as to why I chose to ‘walk-in’ on November 4,” said Crews, who has been teaching for roughly three years.

A “walk-in” is the exact opposite of a “walkout” in that it encourages participants to protest, but to do so while also executing their duties as educators.

“When I posted my status, I received over 100 likes and over 70 shares. Not a single one of them were negative,” she said.

Crews said she believes those who originally saw her Facebook post, which has not yet been made public, knew she was only voicing what she thought was best for her students.

“My post was not written so that I would get any recognition for anything. It was simply written to let others know that there still are good people and good, caring teachers in the world,” she said.

“I do want to say that I am not the only teacher who feels this way, because whether people believe it or not, there are still good Christian people and teachers in this world,” she added. “I know, because I am one and I work with a whole group of them and know of many others.”

She said she has caught some criticism for her post after excerpts were picked up by news outlets. But she said it doesn’t bother her.

“The people who are making those comments don't know me at all and never even read” the entire Facebook post, she said.

“They have no idea what my intentions were. So it was very comical to read all the comments of those who think they know what they are talking about. I am also not worried at all about what they say, because I know who I am, my friends, and family know who I am, but most importantly the Father knows who I am,” she said.

Crews' colleagues ended up forgoing the walkout and instead opted to stage a "walk-in." They showed up for work as usual, but made sure to wear red shirts to show solidarity with state educators.

The decision by her coworkers to not walk out on the job may seem like a bit of a rarity considering how certain teachers groups have behaved recently.

But that was the whole point of Crews' note, which she made available to TheBlaze. You may find it even more inspiring than the initial excerpts reported Monday:

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Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

Featured image courtesy @kendracrews. This post has been updated.

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