My Dear Students

To All My Wonderful Students At Highland:

I love you all so much. This year has been a great one for me because of you. There definitely highs and maybe a few lows— and I apologize for what I’m realizing in retrospect might have been a whole lot of books and literary texts with sad endings— but it’s been an incredible experience for me to be here with you and go through it all. I’m constantly amazed by you and the ability you have to make such brilliant connections with the things we read, the ideas we talk about, the writing we do.

I’m also amazed by your capacity for kindness and empathy. I think I’ve been lucky to witness some of that as you’ve been in my classroom this year, and it’s so exciting to think about what you will do with it in other contexts and at other times. And not just your kindness and empathy, but your bravery and intelligence. With everything that has happened this school year– how brave you are to continue coming to school to learn, and then looking forward to the future to see how you can change things! I’ve seen you struggle and get angry and feel anxious, but also triumph in small and big ways. There have been many times this school year that I have been dazzled by your writing and your ability to think about what is going on and what you have ahead of you, and to see what part you might have in that.

I will miss you all so much next year, but I’m excited to think about what you are going to do next year and after high school– whether it be college or a job or traveling or whatever, you will do incredible things, so hang in there and finish strong!

Love, Your Teacher,

Whitney Sorensen

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

END OF THE YEAR QUESTIONS

P.S. If you ever want to get in touch, my Twitter handle is @whitneysorensen. Send me a message!