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Writing poems can help students address difficult issues and become agents for social change.

Growing up, no one told me that people shouldn’t be gay. My parents didn’t tell me I shouldn’t talk to kids whose parents were lesbian. My neighbors didn’t rant against the horrors of gay rights. Instead, all the people in my life encouraged me to live openly, to take people’s personalities and see the beauty in them, to smile at the adorable young couple clutching each other’s hands, no matter their gender. Love was love. I lived in a world blissfully ignorant about the cruelties of the “real world.”

As a high school sophomore, I loved debate. My coach was a quirky, intelligent man whom I greatly admired. I learned a lot from him. It bothered me, however, that he didn’t seem to respect me because of my choices.

There’s an old joke among real estate agents that the three most important things to consider in any property are location, location, location.

This teacher's classes were in the middle of reading a Sherman Alexie classic that spurred deep discussions and powerful writing. Then several women came forward to say #metoo about the author.