Yesterday, I had an experience that was probably the most affirming of my teaching career on a professional level -- a full-circle experience. I was on a district visit with my Kansas Teacher of the Year team. We visited a classroom at Monticello Middle School in the De Soto, Kansas school district. This is not just any classroom. It is a classroom museum. It is the classroom of a teacher who brings history to life. (The video below is amazing.) My words cannot do this classroom justice; you just have to watch it.
This teacher is named Keil Hileman, and he is the 2004 Kansas Teacher of the Year. This "circle" began when I was a young teacher (in my first two years of teaching), and Keil spoke to our school. I remember listening him tell stories about the Lost Boys of Sudan and what his classes were doing to help them. I passed on artifacts as he told stories about how they were connected to history. I remember gasping for air as he shared the ways that humans have treated other humans throughout history. I laughed. I cried. I experienced a glimpse of what his classroom might be like. And then, I remember thinking to myself that I had no idea how to be a teacher like Mr. Hileman. I looked at what he did, and I thought that there was no way I could ever do that. And you know what, I was right. I could never be Mr. Hileman, but I could be Mrs. Neill. I didn't know what that would take; all I knew was that I wanted to reach kids the way that he did.
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| The 2018 Kansas Teacher of the Year Team in Keil Hileman's classroom. (To say we were excited is an understatement.) |
As I listened to Keil teach a room of teachers yesterday, it dawned on me that Keil and I did have something in common. We have the same heart. And I was surrounded by seven other teachers who have the same heart. And when I go back to my district, I am surrounded by my department members who have the same heart. My high school colleagues, district colleges, and administrators have the same heart, too. We have a heart for kids. We love them with all that we have. It is not content, worksheets, tests, or essays that make a great teacher. It is love. I want my students to walk into my classroom and know they are loved - because then they are safe to take chances and do great things.
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| Mr. Hileman holding a judges medallion from the 1936 Berlin Olympics. |
Yesterday was a surreal experience. Here I was with the 2018 Kansas Teacher of the Year team -- sitting in a room of a teacher who, unbeknownst to him, made a huge impact on a young teacher fourteen years ago. Yesterday, our paths crossed again. It was almost like the universe was affirming that I have found my "why". I was put on this earth to love kids. Most teachers would tell you that their "why" looks a lot like love, kindness, empathy, and hope. Just ask someone why they teach and you will find that you can tell a true teacher when you meet one because we share the same heart. You can see it in their eyes. You can hear it in their voices. Great teachers share the same heart.
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Below is a small piece of the history that I held in my hands yesterday. It was so humbling. It was an experience I will never forget. This is just an example of one of the many artifacts used to bring history to life. I held these slave shackles in my own two hands. Doing so was something humbling and terrifying at the same time. When I held them, I thought of the fact that real humans had been shackled in these chains at some point in history. These chains had touched human skin. And then I thought about the evil nature of white slave traders during this time in history. The fact that other humans were viewed as chattel to be auctioned off to the highest bidder - sickens me. This is a history lesson I will never forget; it's safe to say that Mr. Heilman's students will never forget these lessons either. This is how teachers inspire world-changers. Bringing one lesson to life at a time. #neveragain
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