For My People

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You know who you are.
Sioux Falls Lincoln 11.5.19
Sioux Falls Roosevelt 11.12.19

If you want to be a teacher, prepare to let your heart break.

Prepare to cry with your student who has been called despicable names.
Prepare to sit with your student who feels the pain of rejection
from adults.

Prepare to refer your student to a counselor.
Prepare to refer yourself to a counselor.

Prepare to watch your student leave school in handcuffs.
Prepare to pray that your hospitalized student will live.

Prepare to respond because your student's loved one died.
Prepare to hug your student's mom because your student died.

If you want to be a teacher, prepare to let your heart break and then realize
there's still no other place you'd rather to be.

Photo by Aliyah Jamous on Unsplash

Gina Benz teaches AP students, EL students, and future teachers at Roosevelt High School in Sioux Falls, SD, where she began her career as an English teacher 19 years ago. To learn more about this topic and her other passions as a teacher, go to GinaBenz.org or follow her on Twitter @GinaBenz605.

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