Math teacher Candice Harrington (CA ’19) loves watching the changes in her students as they morph from scared, “spongy” ninth-graders to confident, opinionated, funny seniors: “Not a day goes by that I don’t laugh out loud.”
Julie Rowell (OR ’19) loves working with students on the cusp of adulthood: “There are so many amazing directions their lives can go, and I enjoy taking that journey with them.”
When English teacher Margaret (M.E.) Hersey (MA ’19) builds reading lists for her predominantly black and brown students, the first thing she thinks about is representation. “I want them to imagine radical possibilities for their futures and the futures of their communities,” she says. “To do that, they need to be exposed to authors who look and sound like them.”
Nick Jacques (NV ’19) has doubled the size of his band program by combining caring, supportive music instruction with high expectations, forging a unique culture: “I create an environment that students want to be part of.”
Lyndsay Hartmann (NE ’19) may use her Milken Award prize to enrich her lessons by traveling to Civil War sites and World War II museums: “The greatest gift I can give to the future is citizens who have the skills to understand the world around them and acknowledge the potential impact they have.”
Professional learning coach Lacy Rivera (NM ’19) started teaching as a stepping stone to working on educational policy. She never expected to fall in love with the classroom: “Educators can be agents of change that multiplies across communities and grows over the years.”
Dr. Johnnie Marshall (GA ’19) had many inspirational teachers growing up, but not one African American man. That’s one of the reasons he became an educator: “I wanted to be a beacon of light for young scholars, especially those who resembled me.”
For English teacher Jennifer Williams (LA ’19), success is making a meaningful connection with each student. “A great relationship is all the success I need,” she says. “With that, all else will follow.”
Brian Allman (WV ’19) spends a lot of time talking with his sixth graders about their interests outside of school. “I am genuinely interested in their lives, but I’m also looking for ways to work it into a social studies lesson,” he says. “They have to be able to connect to the material.”
The most important lessons in Brooke Lee’s English class are about perseverance: “Failing makes us overcome obstacles and try harder.”
