In my life I’ve been very lucky to travel around the world and see students and teachers in nearly two dozen countries—but the most awe-inspiring experience I’ve ever had was two years after 9/11 when I had the chance to attend a conference in Manhattan and personally meet many of the heroic teachers who persevered under conditions that in our worst nightmares we could never have imagined. In my opinion there’s not been nearly enough written about those teachers, and I hope that changes soon.
Tucker ElliotTags: education 9-11 military iraq germany terrorism afghanistan korea dodds tucker-elliot
All my life my dad felt this need to protect his kids from a war he fought, a war I believed could never reach out and touch us, could never hurt us—and yet he fed us lies with his answers, shielding us from the truth about what he did there, about what he saw, about who he was before the war, and about what he became because of it. He lied to protect us from his memories, from his nightmares. Standing with my dad at The Wall, I knew the truth—no one could know so many names engraved in granite if he 'never was in danger.
Tucker ElliotTags: education 9-11 military iraq germany terrorism afghanistan korea dodds tucker-elliot
Honestly, I had no idea how to respond. My senior year of college I’d taken a seminar titled Public Education: Situations and Strategies. I thought about emailing my professor, maybe suggest some new topics and help him get current. Maybe he’d invite me back as a guest lecturer. He’d probably expect some strategies along with the situations though, so I guess that wouldn’t work, but whatever.
Tucker ElliotTags: education 9-11 military iraq germany terrorism afghanistan korea 9-11-10th-anniversary dodds tucker-elliot
If I can be perfectly blunt, his humanities teacher was an ass.
Tucker ElliotTags: education 9-11 military iraq germany terrorism afghanistan korea dodds tucker-elliot
I felt a hand on my back, movement behind me, my guys making room, someone squeezing into our circle, and then one last hand joined the pile: my Korean aide. I guess it made sense. We were her real family. The closest thing she’d ever had to a real family, at least. All year she said maybe five words a day. 'Now kick some ass,' she said.
Tucker ElliotTags: education 9-11 military iraq germany terrorism afghanistan korea dodds tucker-elliot
I felt so much pride, so much love. You get a handful of days like this in a lifetime. Take in every minute. They’ll be over soon enough, and you never know what tomorrow will bring.
Tucker ElliotTags: education 9-11 military iraq germany terrorism afghanistan korea 9-11-01 dodds tucker-elliot
Military life is hard, even cruel—especially for the kids.
Tucker ElliotTags: education 9-11 military iraq germany terrorism afghanistan korea 9-11-10th-anniversary dodds tucker-elliot
I asked my dad once if his high school teachers began treating kids differently during Vietnam, when they knew some of their students would be drafted and sent to war. I was curious because for sure we’d started treating our military kids differently after 9/11. He just shrugged and changed the subject, like he always did. And that was okay with me. He’d go back and change a lot of things if he could; and like everyone else, I’d give anything to go back to the day before 9/11—but all we can do is move forward.
Tucker ElliotTags: education 9-11 military iraq germany terrorism afghanistan korea dodds tucker-elliot
Always Sami. I was tethered to her somehow. To that scared little girl I’d found on the staircase nearly a year earlier; to the past, when teaching was simpler and I could care about everyday problems, when being relentless meant running two extra laps, not waiting for an MP to search the undercarriage of a bus for bombs before letting students approach it.
Tucker ElliotTags: education 9-11 military iraq germany terrorism afghanistan korea dodds tucker-elliot
The service members who defend our way of life ask very little in return, but they deserve teachers who will be as relentless in teaching their children as the military is in protecting our interests at home and abroad.
Tucker ElliotTags: education 9-11 military iraq germany terrorism afghanistan korea dodds tucker-elliot
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