This Teacher Gave Her Life to Save Her Students

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1. Ann Herzer says:

   July 29, 2012 at 11:01 am

   Thanks for sharing this wonderful story about this brave teacher.

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2. readingexchange says:

   July 29, 2012 at 4:41 pm

   This is a very sad and touching story. It’s a reminder that I go to work everyday with teaching colleagues who,I know, would act similarly to save their students.

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3. Diana Senechal says:

   July 30, 2012 at 7:02 am

   Mixed feelings here.

   Yes, Laura Recco was brave, but she shouldn’t have had to do this in the first place.
   Anyone planning a trip to the beach should ensure that there are lifeguards on duty. A student at my school died at the beach on a field trip a few years ago, so I have thought a lot about this issue. (I wasn’t at the school yet, but I have heard and read a lot about the incident and surrounding circumstances.)

   Accidents can happen despite the best of planning. But that doesn’t make good planning futile. Anyone planning a beach trip should ensure that lifeguards will be there and check for any riptide warnings.

   Also, I am wary of holding up the hero-teacher as a response to reformers–after all, many reformers hold up the hero-teacher as their own ideal. (“Whatever it takes….”) One can give of oneself while also holding something in reserve. The teachers who influenced me the most, whose teaching lasted longest with me, had minds, interests, and lives of their own. It is important for this to remain possible.

   I don’t mean to diminish what Recco did. She performed a great human deed and deserves all the honor she has received. In an emergency, many teachers would do likewise. But schools should do all they can to keep emergencies to a minimum.

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