Teachers and educators at all levels and from every discipline, along with everyone else who cares about teaching and learning, will be moved by the impassioned words and the images expressed by teachers in these pages. - In a poem about the first day of school, a 21-year veteran teacher of 3rd and 4th graders says he is still "so in awe of this moment / and these children." -In an essay about teaching students with special needs, an experienced 8th-grade teacher calls her students her "guardian angels." -A secondary school music director calls music education a "lifetime sport," and explains her philosophy: "What could be better than giving a 6th grader something to be . . . proud of?" -A veteran arts educator created a brochure, illustrated by her primary students, to persuade their state governor to reinstate arts education funding. It worked. This book celebrates teachers and teaching. Through stories, poems, plays and artwork, 42 experienced teachers express their thoughts about students, other teachers and mentors, and the power of teaching and learning. After years in the field, these teachers are still excited, intrigued, and--yes--in love with teaching. They speak eloquently for the many teachers everywhere who, despite the difficulties, wouldn't trade their job for any other in the world. - from Amzon