#hightechhigh

Last night my daughter and her 10th grade classmates presented what they've been working on this past semester, a series of podcasts that are part of something they developed called We Speak, A Community Storytelling Project. As part of that project, students formed teams of three and selected stories of our city and culture that they felt needed to be told. My daughter's team produced a podcast called Trascending the Gender Binary, which looks at issues of gender identity, specifically within the context of parenting.

It was a riveting evening, as students shared excerpts of their podcasts then answered questions about their experiences during the project. Hearing them discuss everything from the challenges of production ("intervewees/adults rarely emailed us back or took our calls") to their passion for their respective topics was inspiring. It reminded me how students, when engaged by talented educators, can not only do remarkable things but can open up a whole world of possibility. My daughter also designed the logo/identity for the We Speak project and built the website. Please forgive my #parentbrag moment and give the podcast a listen.

Over the next month I’ll be blogging about the teachers that have made an indelible, pivotal impact on my life. Here’s Part 1, Mr. Knapp.

If you can read this, thank a teacher. We’ve all seen that phrase, it gets to the core of why teachers are so important - we need them to understand the world. Since I work in schools and see kids deeply engaged in their learning, I often think about the meaningful education moments in my life. At the root of many of my learning adventure experiences was the teacher guiding me. My stand-out is my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Marc Knapp, at Ellwood P. Cubberley Elementary School here in San Diego. Mr. Knapp is my absolute favorite teacher - I want to tell you about him.

It was 1989. Mr. Knapp fostered in me confidence to trust my own learning style, he was a positive role model in my life at a particularly turbulent time (my parents were divorcing bitterly), and he was, at his core, an impassioned educator, parent, and friend. Mr. Knapp took us on camping trips to the desert to shoot rockets and discover animals (I can identify an impressive array of lizard species), he made us caretakers to reptiles in the classroom (I was once bitten my a rosy boa, and got a "certificate of survival" afterward; it was a particularly epic day), and he shared music with us - mainly oldies from the 60s - and played guitar while we sang along (I remember one very awkward surprise solo I giggled through); I can still sing Love Potion Number 9 pretty well, actually, which is a feat considering and am quite possibly the world's worst lyricist (I once thought the Stayin’ Alive lyrics were ''Steak and a knife, steak and a knife''). Mr. Knapp also helped us learn math through real-world exercises in shopping, investing, and budgeting with our classroom currency, Eagle Bucks. (We were “Knapp’s Eagles”, of course, because we soared). School was fun as a Knapp’s Eagle; we were always DOING and making things in his class, he got us all totally hooked on learning.

Mr. Knapp was also the kindest, most enthusiastic, and intuitive teacher I've ever had; He had a similar impact on my younger brother and countless other kids too. He gave me, through his gentle, nuanced teaching, a certificate of survival...for life. Mr. Knapp helped me learn to learn. Now, in my professional life, when presented with a challenging project for which I may not completely know what I’m doing, I know how to learn a new skill, collaborate, ask for help and take criticism. It’s astonishing to me that my 6th grade self was garnering skills that my mid-30s self would call upon. Every. Single. Day.

A few years ago, I wanted to thank him for being such an important person to me. In looking for Mr. Knapp's contact info I found out he'd been the President of the local Teacher's Union, which didn't surprise me - he was a gregarious leader and connector of people. I also found out that, sadly, Mr. Knapp had died. I was really down about it, my brother and I talked and cried about the news immediately. I'm still so sad that I didn't have the chance to tell him how he helped shape who I am.

I'm forever grateful, Mr. Knapp. As an adult I see the many things you instilled in your students. These deeper learning skills continue to reveal themselves as important underpins of my life as a worker, wife, mother, daughter, friend and citizen of the world.