Blurry but timeless: a young Josh Crews doing what he liked best. He’d have agreed with something the narrator of Richard Flanagan’s “Gould’s Book of Fish” says: “Perhaps reading and writing books is one of the last defences human dignity has left, because in the end they remind us of what God once reminded us before He too evaporated in this age of relentless humiliations–that we are more than ourselves; that we have souls. And more, moreover.” (The photograph was contributed by his friend Joe Rizzo.)
Josh Crews could be quick on the draw with a pen. Take his “Rosalita,” the page-and-a-splash story prefacing this year’s 10th-anniversary annual anthology of student writing that bears his name: in just a few broad strokes, two friends heading for the Bahamas board a boat that appeared to be in distress. It’s a trap. A violent coke-trundling man, his gun and his Rosalita want the two friends to take them to America. Big fight. Rosalita and her man (to whom she�
Often, Arien Striplin s students do their best learning when they don t realize they re learning at all. That s the thing about teaching the youngest grades: The lessons that are the most fun are often also the stickiest.
Tyler Gonce was a 5-year-old kindergarten student in Striplin s class in 2005. Now, she s planning to pursue a master s degree to become an elementary school teacher like Striplin.
Whatever grade I end up teaching, I know Mrs. Striplin will be there for me along my path, just like she was that first day of kindergarten, Gonce said. She formed the foundation of my education and is mentoring me to form the foundation of future generations. I cannot think of a more deserving teacher to receive this high honor!