Stories

Mental Health

We Need School Discipline Reform But We Also Need to Protect Teachers

One of my second-graders, Tony, generally entered the classroom happy. But it took a very small thing to make him furious. Tony, who had been diagnosed with anger impulsive disorder, would get angry...

Read More

Washington D.C.

I Marched for All the Students That I’ve Lost to Gun Violence

I was only 11 years old the first time I witnessed a murder. I knew the man who was shot, and I saw his face opening as the assailant “unloaded” on him. His head hanging back on the headrest, neck...

Read More

California

The Students I Met at 'March For Our Lives' Are the Change I Want to See

On Saturday, my friend and I made our way to March For Our Lives by taking the D.C. Metro to L’Enfant Plaza. Among our fellow riders was a little boy and his mom. The boy wore knitted mitten toppers...

Read More

Charter Schools

Illinois' Race for Governor Is a Competition on Who Can Be the Most Silent on Education

Here in Illinois our governor will either be a Democratic billionaire businessman philanthropist or a Republican multi-millionaire businessman philanthropist. Both have a long record of investing in...

Read More

California

I'm Going to #MarchForOurLives Because, Honestly, How Can I Not?

Protest has been a topic for a long time around my house. Like a lot of people, I participated in the Women’s March in January 2017. Around that time, I had a discussion with a student who told me,...

Read More

Politics

I Refuse to Bury Another Student

Yakez Semark was a bright, warm, charismatic 20-year-old whose life ended several weeks ago due to gun violence. He was also one of my first students. When one of his former classmates notified me...

Read More
Prev 115 116 117 118 119 Next