public education | Teachers in Their Power

Brown Deer High School | 3 art teachers share their stories

Three art teachers from Brown Deer High School in Brown Deer, Wisconsin share their perspectives on teaching and learning.

Kritika Srinivasan | Behavior and bearded dragons

My mom came to the U.S. from India. She got a scholarship to do her PhD in French at UCLA, and then she adopted me from India when I was six months old. It was a huge family occasion —…

Sean Bui | “I left law and became a teacher”

For the majority of my life, I was convinced that my road ended with me becoming an attorney. My family set the value that attorney was the route to go, and I thought I was pretty good at public speaking…

Terrence Smith | Teaching in partnership with the community

My aunt and uncle raised me. I’m the youngest of seven kids; my brother and I were taken away from our biological parents due to their drug addiction. I was adopted by my mother’s sister right after I was born,…

Jenna Hewitt King | “I wanted to work in the place that transformed me”

I went to high school here in San Leandro, at the school where I teach. We have three ‘academy programs,’ where students can apply to go through 10th through 12th grade in cohorts focused on multimedia, business and finance, or…

BryAnn Sandy | Reflections of a new teacher

I was born in Brooklyn. I grew up from pre-K to seventh grade in the Bronx — but then they started to raise the rent. The buildings were terrible. My mom told us the rent prices and the conditions of…

Jireh Tanabe | English literature and mental health

When I was in eighth grade, I had this very eccentric English teacher. He would whack the desks whenever he wanted people to answer — and sometimes he would only call on the kids who were reliably the ‘smart kids.’ …

Chris Madson | “I think you’re the first teacher that ever recognized me”

I was in high school at the height of the AIDS crisis. And as a 13- and 14-year-old, I would sneak away into the city to meet up with this group of people, mostly gay men and Black women, who…

Maribel Rosendo-Servin | Why I decided to be an ethnic studies teacher

My family is from a small village in Guanajuato, Mexico. My dad had been coming to the United States since he was 15 to provide for his family. My mom was hesitant to leave her family and friends, but she…

Lauren Wesnak Smith | Personalized and extended learning

I remember being in a conversation with my mom in high school — I don't know if we were driving somewhere, or just talking in the kitchen. But I remember her telling me that I was ‘a real people person’…