Teachers in Their Power | A storytelling project

Ebony Manion | The many jobs of teaching

When I was in first grade or second grade, they pulled me out of the classroom to teach other students how to read. I guess I was a really good reader. I don't remember why they asked me, but they…

Alex Robins | From singing to Socratic seminars

I studied history at the University of Michigan, and I played music for fun. I thought, ‘Okay, I'll graduate, and then I'll go start a band.’ That's what I did. We were called ‘Or, The Whale.’ I ended up moving…

Keshawn Bostic | High expectations in Dallas

When I was going into high school, I wanted to be a lawyer. That was my goal. I got into boarding school and during my freshman year, I played football. At the end of my freshman year, they cut the…

Lance Powell | The paradox of teaching

I always thought I wanted to go into law. I saw all these courtroom drama TV shows growing up, and that's what I wanted to do. I went to the University of Wisconsin–Madison with the intention of eventually going into…

Marwa Elmasry | Teaching Arabic in high school

My mother is a teacher. She is a wholehearted teacher. I grew up seeing her face light up with joy every time her students came up to her on the street: ‘Oh, hi, Miss, do you remember me? I was…

Sal Dibartolo | Building relationships with students

I grew up in New Jersey. I was born in Brooklyn, and my parents own a pizzeria in Manhattan. I spent a considerable chunk of my teenage years helping out at the pizzeria. I was a terrible student in high…

Raphael Bonhomme | Teacher collaboration and how “iron sharpens iron”

It wasn't my original plan to become a teacher. At first, I didn't know if I was gonna go to college or not, but I ended up getting accepted into three schools. I wanted to do advertising. I was being…

Hannah Halpern | Navigating the DC Public Schools system

I pretty much always knew I wanted to work with kids because I always found joy in it. I felt I had innate instincts, and I knew how to navigate different situations. When I was seven or eight years old,…

Alexandra Mondelus-Duffy | Middle school math and Haitian-American community

I never thought of becoming a teacher. Early on, I wanted to be a pediatrician, but I was more interested in studying mental health and behavior vs. other sciences, so I thought, ‘Psychology would work.’ I thought it was a…

Teacher Appreciation Week | Edutopia

Throughout Teacher Appreciation Week, Edutopia highlighted four teachers' stories from Teachers in Their Power.