Reconnecting Beyond the Classroom

When I think back to my first years of teaching, one moment continues to rise to the surface: asking my students to journal. I don’t remember the exact theme of the assignment, but I do remember that two students wrote with raw honesty about absent fathers and the resentment that followed them like a shadow.

What they shared was not easy. But out of that pain came beauty. Together, their words became the backbone of a dance piece titled Letter to My Father. It was unforgettable for me, for them, and for the audience. There was no music, only spoken word woven into movement. The silence in between gave space for the truth to breathe. The performance was vulnerable, powerful, and raw art doing exactly what it is meant to do: transform struggle into expression.

Years later, I look back with awe at where these students have journeyed. One of those students went on to perform in a touring Broadway musical and is now a professor, still carrying the strength and artistry that I glimpsed in those early classroom days. The other, Ibrahiem, recently resurfaced in the most unexpected way. I had been wondering about him for years. He wasn’t a self proclaimed dancer just placed in my elective but he left a mark. And now I see why. Ibrahiem is an author. His book, Dad, I Love You: How to Love an Absent Father (2023), reminds me of the seeds of what he once wrote in class and how he grew them into something lasting, healing, and deeply human.

Moments like these remind me that as teachers, we don’t always get to see the full arc of a student’s story. We send them out into the world, uncertain if our lessons will matter, if our time together will ripple beyond the classroom walls. But sometimes, years later, life hands us the gift of seeing what they’ve become. And suddenly, the late nights, the worries, and the endless effort make sense.

Reconnecting with former students has taught me this: our impact is rarely immediate, but it is often profound. We may never know in the moment how we’re shaping lives, but the work we do becomes part of their foundation. And when we discover their success, their voice, their art, it’s like finding missing pieces of our own journey too.

Check out his book, support and share!

Thanks for reading! 
Tamara