Wednesday, February 3, 2016

"Not In Front of My Students!"

It would mean a great deal to me if anyone who reads this blog would read this account of a terrifying moment at the Iowa caucuses this week. This piece is not about politics, it's not about the candidates. It is, purely and urgently, about fear. And fear has its place at this blog. And I want people to understand why that is.

Why it must be.

And also to see the other thread ... which is perhaps the most perfect testimony of what it means to be a teacher that I have ever read.

The affirmation. The shining, life-affirming reasons for gratitude.

5 comments:

Donnaeve said...

Of course it was always an honor to know that Dr. Angelou worked at WFU here in NC. I gave my mother-in-law her cookbook years ago - called THE HALLELUJAH TABLE - in which Dr. Angelou shared her personal stories with each recipe. One was for Caramel Cake, and she talked about how her grandmother always made her one when she was feeling sad.

Anyway, that encounter this teacher had - made my OWN hair raise up. She will never know what was intended - thank God. And then her commitment to teaching, her passion, and all that she has to offer her students also came through as she went on to talk about the influence of Dr. Angelou on her own teaching and experiences.

So many outstanding teachers out there who are paid nowhere near what they are worth - and then again that worth would/could never be matched with money.

DLM said...

My sister-in-law is a teacher, my family is riddled with professors and teachers.

Caramel cake sounds like it might be similar to penuche cake - I *adore* penuche icing on a good chocolate cake (recipe: brown sugar, milk, 10x sugar, cook and stir and so on till it's smoother than but similar color to maple sugar candy). It sounds delicious.

Dr. Harris-Parry's account is a testament to the woman she herself must be; and her focus on others is almost astonishing, given a personally terrifying situation she is recounting. This is the kind of woman I would like to be, though I will never be a teacher. She turned a story about a harrowing moment into a greater witness to something so much finer, something sublime, in all of us.

Imagining Maya Angelou laughing uproariously. And hearing her voice.

angie Brooksby-Arcangioli said...

Wow, that's a creepy tale. Teachers are heros.



S.P. Bowers said...

That is a beautiful testimony of what it is to be a teacher. I'm sorry she's had to endure so much in the name of teaching though. Teachers, true teachers, should be honored and respected, always. Both my grandfather's were teachers and there are numerous other teachers in my family.

DLM said...

My family too, but we had the privilege of not having to face bigotry in the line of duty. Thank you so much for coming by, SPB!!