Emily Scheinfeld

I never thought I would. My parents were both special education teachers who toward the end of their tenure, warned against the increase in red tape, paperwork, helicopter parenting, and high turnover... not to mention the notion that teachers often struggle due to lack of resources and low pay. But during graduate school (to do research), I was teaching, and I soon realized that being able to enrich students' lives, to see the ah ha moments, and to prepare them for the world was invaluable.

Honestly, there's never a moment where you are just like yes, this is the moment I will remember. It's the comments on exams or final projects, course evaluations, or when people come back to update you. These comments that tell me they felt challenged, but now so much more prepared. Or that the content and work pushed them to be better, or that it helped them in other courses. The simple memos that thank you for making their experience in school important, relevant, interesting, and memorable.

First, I would be able to to purchase technology and software for my classroom, which is often comprised of students working full time. This would allow us to work through concepts in more interactive ways, have rich discussions, and even conduct research together without the burden of cost. I also run a nonprofit on the side that would benefit from these funds. And if anything is left over, we just got married, got pregnant with twins, and are buying a house.