“Why I teach is difficult to summarize. There are so many reasons, but I think I teach literature and writing because I recognize the great power of the written word. In a world where it appears we listen and follow the loudest voice, I wish for my students to recognize that is not the method to make change. To really be heard is to be a quiet, reflective, inquisitive leader. A leader is someone who can put into words the questions we all have and help guide us to maybe not the answers, but guide us to the right path to finding the answers. As a teacher, I am that guide.  I see and value all of my students; I want to see them make change, and to make change is to use the skills they develop from reading and writing. Of course, as a literature teacher, I hate to be cliche and quote a book, but I’m going to anyway. As Offred in Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” realizes, we all must find that internal drive and inspiration to keep going–even in the darkest of times. Literature can help us do that. I end with the advice that Offred uses to keep herself going, “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.“

– English teacher Angela Staber