Heartbreak, Love, and Resilience: A Teacher's Apology to her Students

When COVID-19 hit the state of New York, many teachers, including Ms. Jackie Rooney, a high school social studies teacher, were suddenly separated from their students before they had a chance to say goodbye. Despite the heartbreak, Ms. Rooney found a way to reconnect to her class. In this podcast episode, she shares a heartwarming letter of apology and reads some of her students' responses. But the pandemic isn't the only crisis affecting her work as a teacher. In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, a Black man in Minnesota, she shares her thoughts about how educators can confront racism and police brutality with their students.