Hey Family,
I feel like that is what we are now. When I started this endeavor 8 weeks ago, I didn’t know how it would go, who it would reach, or what the response would be. I am tremendously grateful to those of you who have stayed connected to me through my work and I am excited to see where this journey will take us in the months ahead.
Moving forward I will start writing bi-monthly (the life of an educator is a busy one), but today I wanted to share something special with you.
One of the best things about being a literature teacher is getting to see students develop and refine their voice in their writing. You meet them and the relationship starts off transactional, but by the end, your goal is to make them fall in love with the written word as much as you have. Today I have the privilege of sharing the writing of a former student of mine who has not only refined her voice but is using it to bring change in big and important ways.
What I have discussed so far in my letters may seem like heavy ones that adults are grappling with today, but it’s important to remember that our young people are also dealing with these issues in their own ways. The poem that follows was written by my student to showcase the feelings that go through one’s head when you realize your presence, your very being, isn’t seen or valued. It pains me to think that she would ever feel this way, especially given how important she has been to me in my teaching career. She first made a huge impression on me seven years ago while I was interviewing for a teaching position. At that time I had been teaching 1st graders, but the job they were offering me would involve upper elementary/middle school students and so I had to plan a demo lesson for the current 5th-grade class. I brought a text by Sandra Cisneros and this student, with her wit, silent grace, and huge smile gave me the confidence and assurance I needed to push through my nerves and deliver the lesson that afforded me the opportunity to teach her as a student of my own the very next year.
She is now a senior in high school, and I can’t wait to see how she shakes up this world. Please consider leaving her some encouraging words in the comments.❤️
to the girl that walks her dog alone at night:
the world has yet to discover the light hidden
deep within your battle scars confidently
worn as flaws, yet existing as signs of strength,
don’t cry when the bus doesn’t pick you up in the rain,
leaving you to drown in your tears,
because your eyes can’t hold umbrellas,
their hands are too small to encompass yours,
ghosting your figure like a cool breeze flying
past you at a million miles per hour
as you feel caught up in the middle of it,
trust that you are safe in the eye of your own hurricane,
your beautiful winds embroidering you with wings
too small to fly with yet you
take off and land right in the middle of your own quiet Kansas,
the walls of your room feel like home and home
feels suffocating on the days where sadness is your oxygen
you shall breathe and remain breathless as you question
why you still hang on with no one to witness your
catastrophic explosions
asking if they will go unseen for millions of years,
like a star you shine bright in the eyes of a dog
This is very encouraging and reinforces the power and responsibility laid upon all the Teachers of the world and how important they are in the development of our our kids, this poem is so proof of that👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
"trust that you are safe in the eye of your own hurricane..." - absolutely powerful. to the author of this poem, thank you for sharing yourself with us. may you always be home to yourself in a world that is too afraid of your light.