Celebrate Teachers with the Mercer County Library
Public
libraries and local schools go hand in hand. Since October 5th is
World Teachers’ Day, now is a great time to celebrate the importance of our
educators! Check out these materials available at the Mercer County Library
System that tell a great story and help to remind us of how hard teachers work
to make our communities better.
Books:
By
Malala Yousafzai
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan,
one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her
right to an education.
“Cowritten with journalist Lamb, this work is much more than
the story of Yousafzai's young life. Her narrative examines and elaborates on
politics, Pakistan's history, friendship, faith, and, above all else, the need
for education for girls.”—Library Journal
By
Frank McCourt
In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and
heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises he
faces in public high schools around New York City. McCourt’s methods are
anything but conventional, and he creates a lasting impact on his students
through imaginative assignments.
“McCourt throws down the gauntlet on education,
asserting that teaching is more than achieving high test scores. It's about
educating, about forming intellects, about getting people to think.”--Publishers Weekly
By
Randy Pausch
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie
Mellon, was asked to give a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last
as he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he
gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—was not about dying.
It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of
others, of seizing every moment because "time is all you have...and you
may find one day that you have less than you think.” It was a summation of
everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
“Made famous by his ‘Last Lecture’ at Carnegie Mellon and the
quick Internet proliferation of the video of the event, Pausch decided that
maybe he just wasn't done lecturing. Despite being several months into the last
stage of pancreatic cancer, he managed to put together this book. The crux of
it is lessons and morals for his young and infant children to learn once he is
gone.”—Publishers Weekly
By Pat Conroy
For years the people here lived proudly from the sea, but now
its waters are not safe. Waste from industry threatens their very existence
unless, somehow, they can learn a new way. But they will learn nothing without
someone to teach them, and their school has no teacher--until one man gives a
year of his life to the island and its people.
"Miraculous . . . an experience of joy." —Newsweek
By Mitch Albom
Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of your mentor as you made
your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn't you
like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you,
receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were
younger?
“A Detroit Free Press
journalist and best-selling author recounts his weekly visits with a dying
teacher who years before had set him straight.”—Library Journal
By Suki Kim
A haunting account of teaching English to the sons of North
Korea's ruling class during the last six months of Kim Jong-il's reign.
“Kim seizes the opportunity to nudge her students toward
subversive independent thought… The result is a rare and nuanced look at North
Korean culture, and an uncommon addition to the inspirational-teacher genre.” —Booklist
Movies:
Dead Poets Society (DVD and Blu-ray)
Robin Williams portrays English professor John Keating, who,
in an age of crew cuts, sport coats and cheerless conformity, inspires his
students to live life to the fullest, exclaiming "Carpe Diem, lads! Seize
the day. Make your lives extraordinary!" The charismatic teacher's
emotionally charged challenge is met by his students with irrepressible
enthusiasm, changing their lives forever.
Lean on Me (DVD)
This is the fact-based story of high school principal Joe
Clark, who armed himself with a bullhorn and a Louisville Slugger and slammed
the door on low achievers at Eastside High in Paterson, New Jersey.
October Sky (DVD)
The true story of a young boy growing up in Coalwood, West
Virginia during the 1950's, who dreams of building rockets.
The Great Debaters (DVD)
Melvin B. Tolson is a professor at Wiley College in Texas, a
small African-American college. In 1935, Tolson inspired students to form the school's first debate team.
Tolson turns a group of underdog students into a historically elite debate team
which goes on to challenge Harvard in the national championship. Inspired by a true story.
- Andrew P., Ewing Branch
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