The Teachers Among Us

Like most of the people I know, I was fortunate to grow up in a home where reading was highly valued and access to books was taken for granted.  

For the students in my friend Maribeth’s middle-school classroom, this is not the case. Many of them have more pressing concerns than reading—concerns like being homeless, having enough to eat, or missing an absent parent.

Maribeth is a dedicated teacher who year-after-year gives her children the gifts of love, respect and high expectations.  She also thinks long and hard about what it means to be a teacher and has written this essay about it.  I hope you’ll read it.