As this rainy school week comes to a close, it would be a shame to miss this last opportunity to say thank you to those who have made this newspaper possible.

We’re not speaking here of publishers, of editors, of reporters or salespeople or advertisers, though we’d like to believe that all of the aforementioned folks are vitally important to the process.

For now, we want to focus our accolades on the folks who provided the foundation upon which the skills of each of those different participants in the production of a daily newspaper were built: teachers.

It’s safe to say that each person working to publish this daily newspaper — and each advertiser who supports it — can look back to his or her years of education and find one or more schoolteachers that inspired a career choice, encouraged taking on challenges or mentored through a personal crisis. Perhaps some teacher did all of those things and more to help shape the people who work at the Suffolk News-Herald.

We’re not much different here than people all around Suffolk. Nearly every adult in the city who has encountered any level of success in business or personal life has one or more teachers to thank for their encouragement, their mentoring, their leadership and their inspiration.

During this annual celebration of National Teachers Week, it’s fitting to remember that we all have someone to thank for where we are, for the people we’ve become and for the unfortunate detours that were avoided along the way because of sage advice at some important juncture.

There used to be a tradition (at least in folklore) of giving teachers shiny apples to show appreciation at this time of year. We suspect the kinds of apples teachers would most appreciate in today’s world are of the electronic variety. But what would mean the most to them is a simple thank you.

Take some time today, before this week is over, and contact a teacher who made a difference in your life. Say thanks. You’ll never realize how much it means to them.