June 4, 2013
The dedication of this young, preservice teacher reminds us all of why we do what we do. Here is a letter I received recently from Hannah Blair.
I am a preservice teacher. I’m currently working as a teacher’s aid in a first grade classroom. Becoming a teacher is hard, especially right now. When I tell people I’m going to teach, most of the time I just get a "good luck with that" look. I know that as I teach there will be times when I want to give up, but there will be moments that take my breath away and remind me why I do what I do. I recently had one of those moments and it involved one of your books.
One of my kiddos has the hardest time focusing in school. He’s out of his seat and off the walls most of the time. Except for silent reading time. Silent reading time means he gets to read what ever he wants. And for him, that is outer space. He tries to find books about space every time he goes to the library, but most books at his level are only drawings of outer space and never completely satisfy his craving for a good space book. That is until I brought him my well-loved copy of your book Our Solar System. When I pulled that book out of my backpack and he saw all those photographs and read what you had written my heart melted. To see his curiosity expand and his excitement grow I knew this was why I had gone into teaching. To watch him fly around the room showing off his book to classmates and teachers, to watch him tell that book goodbye every afternoon, and to watch him read and reread it daily reminds me why I want to teach. So I can inspire this love of learning in others.
Thank you, Hannah, for this wonderful letter. You are a credit to a noble profession, teaching! I am so proud of having some small part in helping to assist you in being the great teacher that you are.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
