“To be yourself is to be in process of creating a self, an identity. If it were not a process, there would be no surprise. The surprise comes along with becoming different - consciously different as one finds ways of acting on envisaged possibility. It comes along with hearing different words and music, seeing from unaccustomed angles, realizing that the world perceived from one place is not the world.
Moreover, to learn and to teach, one must have an awareness of leaving something behind while reaching toward something new, and this kind of awareness must be linked to imagination.”

- Maxine Greene, Releasing the Imagination (p. 20)

In the fall of 2020, I became a full-time substitute teacher for the NYC DOE. This is my FIRST graduating class of brilliant, former 8th grade, students. These are the “Hands that Build America.” Rest assured, you are in very good hands.

I owe all the thanks to these individuals (and those who are not featured here, but were an integral part of this year). You lived well, we lived well together. It is possible.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ”

— Maya Angelou