Sage Advice: Monument to Teachers

Honor teachers by placing a book in Lincoln's hands at his monument, a book in Jefferson's hand at his monument, a book in FDR's hand in his monument -- all with the inscription "Teaching and Learning Keep America Great."

Bruce Braciszewski

Executive director Classroom of the Future Foundation

San Diego, California

It would be a heart-shaped brain, because teachers touch not only students' minds but their emotions as well.

Toby Karten

Resource-center teacher

Manalapan-Englishtown Schools

Englishtown, Pennsylvania

From the perspective of No Child Left Behind, it seems that the monument should be of a weary teacher standing with a textbook in one hand and glasses in the other, buried to his or her waist in a pile of papers that includes standardized tests, state standards, individual-educational programs, grade reports, articles from news media criticizing teachers, and state report cards.

Bill Tomhave

Professor of mathematics

Concordia College

Moorhead, Minnesota

A circle would be a great monument for teachers, due to the fact that education does not have a beginning or an end. It also encompasses everything that is in each student's life.

Jeff Haney

Assistant principal

Pisgah High School

Canton, North Carolina

As a teacher, I'd want a monument where children and their parents could visit and learn together. I picture this as a mix of an exploratorium, a library, a computer lab, a conference center, and a playground. It would be staffed by teachers and retired teachers. There would be exciting, hands-on activities in math, science, social studies, and literature. Authors, scientists, mathematicians, and historians would be frequent visitors. Teachers could participate with these experts in lectures, conferences, and informal chats. A monument that promotes learning at all levels by people of all ages would be a wonderful tribute to teachers.

Ruth Manna

Second-grade teacher

Conway Grammar School

Conway, Massachusetts

I imagine a four-sided monument, each reflecting an image or likeness of a teacher and a student at a different phase of life: early childhood, elementary education, secondary education, and adult education. In the background of each would be images or words that represent the populations served: special education, career and technical education, mathematics, and so on. Circling the base would be the words "Proud to thank those who make lifelong learning possible."

Daniel Gross

Director

Southeastern Wisconsin Instructional Network Group

Burlington, Wisconsin

It would be similar to the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier. Our freedom is a result of sacrifices from souls we may never know, or may know intimately. Equally so, our education is a result of knowledge obtained through the sacrifices of strangers and souls we are very close to. Teachers touch the lives of students in immeasurable and indeterminate ways. They engender dignity, hope, and courage, personally as lone champions to each student, or prodigiously as they share their knowledge with many. This truth applies whether the teacher works with kindergartners or is a Nobel Laureate advising postdoctoral fellows.

Cindy Mitas

Strategic-planning and market-development consultant

Francis Tuttle Technology Center

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Don't make a monument. Give teachers whatever money would be spent on a monument to use for their classrooms and/or salaries. We would appreciate and value that recognition much more than any monument.

Kirsten McCawley

Shore assistant director

Morgantown Learning Academy

Morgantown, West Virginia

A statue of a dog with a chewed homework paper in its mouth.

John Iglar

Primary school head

The Banner School Frederick, Maryland

One constructed so that visitors walk through a darkened cave and come out into brightness. This represents bringing the light of understanding to the darkness of ignorance.

Sherry Donald

Teacher of gifted third- and fourth-grade students

Oxford Elementary School

Oxford, Mississippi

The teaching profession is made up of quiet heroes. We don't need a monument erected on the Mall. Decent teachers are rewarded by the spark of curiosity in their students. Conscientious teachers are undaunted by a troubled school system and by national politics that put impossible demands on the system with little or no financial support. Good teachers are resolute in their efforts to awaken the consciousness of children. Reward us with safe schools, ample educational facilities, and state-of-the-art technology and curriculum materials.

Kathrine Field

Head librarian

Billings West High School

Billings, Montana

In my imagination, I see two or more students walking through an opened door.

Debbie Perry

Algebra teacher

Stranahan High School

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

A rocket pointing upward (or a large passenger ship):

• It is incomplete (representing that education is one of those things that is still being developed), giving no real perspective of how large it may ultimately be.
• It is covered with workers (representing all the people involved in education) -- one set of workers sets the framework, the next adds incredible details, and the next streamlines the ship (representing the constant improvement).
• It is accompanied by other ships of various sizes surrounding the first that are just being built, and, although their construction is in the initial phases, they take greater strides and are built with improved methods, and there are indications that many smaller craft have already been built and have flown to new destinations.

John Taylor

Physics teacher

Elkhart Memorial High School

Elkhart, Indiana

It would be two arms coming out of rough clay and, with hands cupped, reaching for the sky while cradling a heart, with the heart breaking open, with the faces of a rainbow of children: black, white, Latino, Native American, Eskimo, Hawaiian . . .

Mark Arnowitz

Director of educational development

El Club del Barrio Inc.

Newark, New Jersey