Teacher who stays up late grading papers for her 12th graders.
Teacher who sleeps through her alarm because she stays up late grading papers for her 12th graders.
Teacher who skips breakfast to get to school early to make copies for the day’s lesson, but there is a “Do Not Use” sign on the only copier in the faculty room.
Teacher who chaperones the homecoming dance but spends most of the evening in the girls’ bathroom talking with a student who was dumped by her boyfriend.
Teacher who remembers being dumped by her high school boyfriend.
Teacher who gets stuck in the girls’ bathroom stall because the lock breaks, so she lies on the grimy tile floor to crawl out from underneath the stall door.
Teacher who forgets her lunch at home and needs to help a student with a college application essay during lunch, so she eats two dusty chocolate chip granola bars she finds in the faculty room.
Teacher who buys an at-home pregnancy test at Rite Aid and recognizes the cashier who rings up the pregnancy test as the parent of a current student who asks if Dylan has been doing his homework.
Teacher who can’t remember the name of her former student from 10 years ago when she runs into them, who’s now working as a phlebotomist in the lab of the hospital, and who asks, “How are you Mrs. Francis?” as they tighten a latex band around the teacher’s upper arm in order to draw blood to confirm her pregnancy.
Teacher who waddles through the high school hallways, eight months pregnant, and is asked by students if she will name her child after them.
Teacher who explains that she has a “No Student Names” rule for naming her babies.
Teacher whose first-period students throw her a surprise baby shower in class complete with ABC cupcakes and a baby shower playlist.
Teacher who sits through active shooter training in the auditorium and is told to examine her classroom for projectiles to throw at a shooter.
Teacher who practices throwing a stapler in her empty classroom.
Teacher who buys a new stapler because the old one broke after she threw it just one time.
Teacher who studies her class rosters, making a mental note of who she could ask to help her barricade the door with bookshelves.
Teacher who prays she never has to ask students to help her barricade the door with bookshelves.
Teacher whose student asks her what kind of active shooter drills she did when she was a teenager.
Teacher who has to explain to her student how there was a time when there were no active shooter drills.
Teacher who is a mother who listens to her young daughter explain they had a moose drill at her elementary school in case a moose enters the building.
Teacher who is a mother who listens to her daughter whisper in her mother’s ear, They call it a moose drill so they don’t scare the little kids, but it’s really in case a bad guy comes in with a gun.
Mother who is a teacher whose instinct is to pull her daughter close and whisper in her ear, Honey, you don’t need to worry about a bad guy with a gun.
Teacher who is a mother who knows she can’t tell her daughter, Honey, you don’t need to worry about a bad guy with a gun.
Mother who is a teacher who is a mother who pulls her daughter in, pulls her close, and whispers the only words she can: I love you, I love you, I love you.
