What My Students Taught Me Columbia Journalism School's Teacher Project

Sixth-grade teacher Elvalisa Guzman often sees parents fade into the background at her Chicago public school of mostly Mexican immigrants. They often assume they can’t do much to help academically. But through one quiet student, Guzman comes to appreciate the unseen power of unconditional parental love.

This episode was produced in partnership with The Teacher Project and WBEZ.

When Ericka Mingo went from teaching high school to teaching adults at National Louis University, she thought her new students would need less from her. She realized every student, regardless of age, needs to know their teachers are there for them.

This episode was produced in partnership with the Teacher Project and WBEZ.

Everything in Rebekah Ozuna’s classroom is designed for the little bodies and fast-firing neurons of 3- and 4-year-olds.

Tiny chairs. A carpet for story time. Colorful bins full of blocks and toys. Even the windows are low to the ground so her students can see outside.

Ozuna teaches in an inclusive special education setting at Knox Early Childhood Education Center on San Antonio’s South Side. Half of her students have disabilities; half don’t.

Two years ago, one of her students, Naomi Campos, made the teacher take a closer look at her priorities. She realized that sometimes the way she taught didn’t fit her students, as well as her classroom, does.

This episode was produced in partnership with the Teacher Project, Texas Standard, and public radio stations across Texas.

Perhaps the hardest part of being a high school teacher is seeing students drop out or fail to graduate.

In her second year teaching at Grand Prairie High School, Rebecca Dodd formed a special connection with student Cheyenne Musgrave. "She was a student that just captured my heart right off," Dodd says. "She reminded me so much of one of my own children."

When Cheyenne withdrew from school on her 18th birthday, Dodd took it hard. But the story didn't end there.

This episode was produced in partnership with the Teacher Project, Texas Standard and public radio stations across Texas.

When Lotus Hoey started teaching English as a second language a few years ago, she felt right at home. Her own parents immigrated from China, so she had to learn English at school, too.

“Initially, when I first started school, I did not speak any English at all. I only spoke Cantonese Chinese and as I was growing up, it was difficult for me to continually translate for my parents who spoke no English,” Hoey says.

When her students come to Pershing Middle School in Houston from places like Central America, the Philippines and Sudan, Hoey can relate to them pretty easily.

Or at least, she could, until she met Emiliano Campos.

This episode was produced in partnership with Teacher Project, Texas Standard and public radio stations across Texas.

Karen Sowers was a young, idealistic history teacher at Lakeview High School in Garland, Texas when she met Donald Pierson. Donald was charming and charismatic, but completely uninterested in school. For years, Karen thought he was her biggest failure. But, long after Donald left her class, an unexpected encounter taught Karen she’d shaped Donald’s life in ways she couldn’t have imagined.

This story was produced in partnership with Texas Standard.