From the Desk of a High School English Teacher

To the students who come into my English classroom:

I know that of all of the subjects you study in school, my subject will probably be your least favorite. Learning how to speak and write within the confines of a grammatically convoluted language that logically you already speak perfectly well is probably the last thing you want to do for an hour every day. You wonder just how applicable Shakespeare and Tolkien and Lewis are to the jobs that will one day define your waking hours. I could tell you that articulation gives you a leg up in society. I could tell you that learning how to read and understand complex texts helps you to think critically about the world around you. Like how I used to question every single one of my algebra teachers though, I know that those explanations will fall on deaf ears, and you will walk away at the end of the class period frustrated that I assigned you yet another writing assignment. Which, respectfully, it’s three paragraphs long. I think you’re going to be okay.

Despite being confined to a particular reading list though, I pray that one day you discover the magic of reading. I hope you see learn to see yourself in the pages of old and new literature. I hope you see your own short sightedness in Emma Woodhouse. I hope you see your strength to stand the hard times in Katniss Everdeen. I hope you see the redemption offered to you, to all of us, in Edmund Pevensie. And I hope you see your gentleness and bravery in Aragorn, Son of Arathorn. Because even if you don’t feel it, it’s there, and it’s often through the pages of these great works of literature that we learn to embrace those parts of ourselves that we may be too scared to embrace.

I pray that you learn that there are whole worlds to be discovered within the pages of a book – from the Alaskan wilds to medieval European castles to the rice patties of Southeast Asia. Bound between the covers of a book, there are dragon rides to soar you to new heights and guides to take you to the center of the earth. I hope you learn that though your feet may be grounded to one place, your mind does not need to stay there.

And most of all, I pray that you learn the beauty of an imagination that creates stories. I hope you see the world around you, your experiences, and your life, and you see there is a greater story being written in your life. That story deserves to be heard by people like you who need to know that they’re not alone. The world needs to hear of your bravery, your heart, your strength, and your gentleness, and I hope that you learn that you can do that and see that through the pages of a book. Because though I would love to see you all using perfect grammar by the time you graduate, that ultimately is not my goal as an English educator. My goal is to help you see and know and interact with the world through the power of words.

With much love and probably a few punctuation errors,

Your high school English teacher