“I think I reach people because I’m with them, not apart from them.” – Loretta Lynn, singer Quilt is from trinastrinketts.blogspot.com and made by Stephanie Urban. The Ken Burns’ television series about Country Music has brought so much enjoyment to my husband and me. With a snack of potato chips, we sing along to songs we had […]
Second Chances Zoey Pappas grew up in a one-stoplight town. Now she’s landed her dream job as the fifth grade teacher at the urban Diamond Projects School, but can she handle it? Her family laid odds that she won’t. Zoey knows her cows, but she’s never dealt with students from drug-infested, crime-ridden communities. Her Greek […]
“Instead of putting others in their place, put yourself in their place.” -Amish Proverb The hours of inactivity in the Thai refugee camp deadened the spirit and the soul. So the Hmong women turned to the comfort that needle and thread had given to generations of women before them. As their sharp needles […]
The one thing that every family in the 1930’s Dust Bowl savored for Christmas was an orange. In our own culture of entitlement and excess, the thought of one orange constituting the holiday pay load is unimaginable. But getting an orange was a big deal because citrus fruit wasn’t affordable during the rest of the […]
The superintendent of the New Orleans school district sat in his seat behind his desk. His offer of a teaching job for first grade at Frantz Elementary School produced only one question in Barbara Henry’s mind. “Will the school be integrated?” she asked. “Would that make any difference to you?” The superintendent raised his eyebrows. […]
Clara Comstock- Agent for Change Ordinary People:Extraordinary Lives By Cleo Lampos The smoke from the locomotive engine flowed into the open window of the train, carrying bits of soot in the wind. Clara Comstock turned her head away from what should have been fresh air to the stench of over ripe apples, stale bread, curdling […]
“The journey of a lifetime starts with the turning of a page.” –Rachel Anders Christmas is a time of anxiety for the students in my behavior disorder/emotionally disturbed classroom. Living in poverty, the expectations of the rest of America accentuated their lack of “stuff”. Depression, despair and desperation etch their twelve-year-old faces, and move […]
Carol Ropp has taught more children as a retired teacher than she did when she had her own classroom. Over 12,000 city kids have learned about life on a farm by visiting the Ropp Jersey Farm in Normal, Illinois. When a group of visitors from preschool to seniors arrives, Carol is the teacher of the […]
If you would look up the word “caretaker” in the dictionary, one of the definitions would read: “one who gives physical or emotional care and support.” Synonyms include: custodian, guardian, janitor, keeper, warden, and watchman. The definition seems to be short and to the point. The synonyms may, at times, provide a more accurate and […]
The swishing sounds of a full-length cape signal that Addie Mix has arrived. As usual, it’s half an hour before the school’s starting time. The coffee drinking staff already gathered in the faculty lounge to wonder which elegant outfit that the fourth grade teacher predictably wears under the cape. Soon enough the faculty will assemble […]