In many places across the country, parents and kids are busily preparing for back to school, and soon, teachers everywhere will be making that school supply list, checking it twice, and sending it out to this year’s fresh crop of students, if they haven’t already. (And YES, I did just shudder because as a teacher, I’m not ready. Did you hear me? I’M NOT READY.)

But like it or not, it’s coming, folks, and sooner rather than later.

That’s why this teacher’s viral post about purchasing school supplies, which was published a couple summers ago but is no less relevant today (as evidenced by the rounds it’s making once again) is an important reminder in an otherwise hectic time of year.

In the post, math teacher Leland Michael recounts an experience at Walmart that left him feeling simultaneously disheartened and hopeful:

Michael’s post reads:

I was feeling pretty jaded this morning as two different sets of parents at Walmart stopped me in the school supplies aisle to complain about how much they had to get their kids this year. “This is just ridiculous. I don’t know how these teachers think we are suppose to get all this stuff.”

As they complained, they seemed to be oblivious to the fact that my cart was filled with a class set of all the supplies they were buying–which should have been a pretty clear indication that I was one of those greedy teachers they were complaining about.

While I was checking out, though, things took a very different turn. I noticed the man in front of me in the checkout lane was buying school supplies for his daughter. As he went to leave, he said to me, “You are a teacher, right? I just want to thank you for everything you do. I see your cart is full with supplies, and I just wanted to help out as much as I can.” Then he handed me a $25 Wal-Mart gift card, shook my hand, and walked away with his daughter smiling big at me.

While I was extremely moved by the man’s generosity, the part that stuck with me the most was the difference in his message to his daughter compared with the parents who had been complaining earlier.

The kids who heard their parents complaining heard this message: “School is not important enough to spend money on it, teachers are not to be trusted and have bad judgement, and learning does not require investment.”

The kid whose dad handed me the gift card heard: “School is important enough that we should give more than required to make sure it is successful, teachers should be respected and valued, and learning requires us giving it everything we have.”

If money is tight, and you struggle to buy your child school supplies, I understand. Don’t worry: more than likely your child will have a teacher and a school that makes sure they have the supplies they need to be successful this year. However, as a parent, do your best to send the right message to your child. The man who gave me the gift card not only made my day, but I also know that his daughter will enter the classroom this year with a very different perspective about her teacher and her education, and that is extremely powerful!

As a teacher myself, all I can say is AMEN.

There are so many instances where I see parents sending the message to their children, however inadvertent it may be, that school is not a priority. That teachers are not to be respected. That receiving an education is akin to serving a sentence in prison.

These messages aren’t usually overt. Rather, they’re subtle, such as the one Michael illustrates in his post.

It’s the parent who complains about the homework assignment and tells his or her kid that he or she doesn’t have to do it.

It’s the parent who bashes the instructors and the administrators time and again over family dinner.

It’s the parent who is incredulous when a teacher or a school has the audacity to issue punishment for a school rule violation and insinuates to everyone within a 3-mile radius, child included, that his or her kid is exempt from being held to a certain code of conduct or that the school doesn’t know what it’s doing.

But Michael’s post touches on something so much more important than just that. Because not only does purchasing school supplies help teachers avoid spending their entire salary on said items for a classroom of 30-150 students. It also helps those students who are less fortunate. The ones who can’t afford to purchase school supplies for themselves for whatever reason.

That school supply list? The one that is a mile long? Yeah, it’s a burden. A real pain in the butt. I’ll be the first to admit it.

But it’s a necessity. And contributing to it is a show of community. Of support. Of just how important doing all you can, not only so you can benefit from a solid education yourself but so others are able to as well, really is.

So as you open that Welcome Back letter that either already has or is about to come in the mail shortly, keep Leland Michael’s message in mind when you’re tempted to mumble and sulk and complain.

And as a parent, please make an effort to teach your kids that education and community are important. Critical. A privilege everyone deserves to enjoy. You don’t have to splurge unnecessarily to do this. If you can’t cross every item, or even one, off that list, even the smallest purchase — or the most supportive word — is immeasurably powerful.

Because until our policymakers prioritize educational funding (hopefully with pressure from parents like you), this is our reality. And on behalf of teachers and students everywhere, I thank you.