(1/11) “When I took over, I noticed that there were behavioral issues for kids who didn't want to do projects like beadworking. And so I started changing my way of thinking about how I structured the whole classroom...” (2/11) “At the high school, I created a class on #indigenous representation in film. I would show the film, we'd have a short discussion, and then I would have them do a movie review. But then I started thinking about having the kids connect to our ancestors...”

(1/13) “I was the kid who was under the table with a fireman's helmet on, covering his ears because he didn't understand what people were saying. I would get frustrated all the time because I didn't understand multiple syllable words...” (2/13) “I was debating between aerospace engineering and education. My parents actually kind of pushed me away from teaching music, because they were both music teachers and that's something they had lived experience with.”

(1/9) “I'm not sure what I would do if I weren't teaching. Sometimes I think maybe architecture, because it's math and I like design. But I have a memory from second grade, when they talked about jobs, saying ‘I want to be a teacher'...” (2/9) “One thing that keeps me going is when students come back and somehow let me know that what I did was impactful for them. Simple things. I've gotten thank you notes in my mailbox the following fall, and sometimes those are really motivating...”

(1/6) “My mom taught for 30 years. And after I went to grad school she said, ‘Why don't you get some experience in the city schools?’ I did it, and I haven't left. You get really attached to the work and the students, especially once you see them...” (2/6) “I hope people can better understand the commitment that teachers have in each of those areas that they're called on: from social work, to social-emotional learning and mental health care, to everything outside of that textbook...”