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 —…
Teachers share stories of student transformation and how they helped address individual students’ needs.
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.’ …
Madrid Neighborhood School | 7 teachers share their stories
Seven teachers from Madrid Neighborhood School in Phoenix, Arizona share their perspectives on K-12 education.
Dillin Randolph | Advocating for students of color
When I was a teenager, I had summer jobs as a custodian. It paid pretty well. So when I got to college, even though I was working as an office assistant in the pharmacy department, I decided to look for more hours cleaning schools. I figured I could do that until I got my degree in communications.
My perspective as a parent — and as a teacher
I know as a parent that I know my kids really well. I know what their strengths are, I know what their weaknesses are, and I have the idea of what I want my kids to have as a part of my family. As a teacher, I know that teachers bring a very different perspective.
“We’re not trying to do that anymore.”
I just love that she had that moment of feeling like a kid, and not feeling like she's carrying anything... And hopefully she remembers that forever, 'cause I will.
“It’s hard to be what you can’t see.”
If our boys are in trouble, our society is in trouble. It's hard to be what you can't see.