Dawn Hochsprung was beloved by her family, her staff and her students.
Now she is beloved by the nation and beyond.
Here is an interview with her husband and five of her six daughters.
She gave her life to save others.
She loved teaching and learning and wanted her students to love learning.
She kept abreast of current national issues.
We know that from her Twitter feed.
She retweeted articles about Joshua Starr, the Montgomery County (Md.) superintendent who opposed high-stakes testing and opposed evaluating teachers by student test scores.
I am proud that she was one of my Twitter followers; she followed only 70 people.
She was devoted to her family, her students, her school.
She died protecting others.
She was a great hero.
We should all keep her memory in our hearts forever.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane, Thanks for this post! I, too have been caught by the incredible image of Dawn as she led her school… information I could glean from her Twitter feed. After dropping my son off at his school, I posted this for my students (teachers) and teacher and teacher leader friends. Prayers for our school friends http://wp.me/pYr49-1K
Now, I’m off to work, to build more resilience in the teacher leaders that we know and love. Thanks for all that you do, Diane. Much more later!
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Amen.
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She really is amazing.
And she made a career out of teaching and educating, something that one reformer once said nobody does anymore.
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Beautiful person, a hero really. Someone to emulate, just look at the love from her family.
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So did you not mention the other murdered teacher heroes because they weren’t Twitter followers of yours? I don’t expect you to post this comment, but I found your self-reference in this post very tasteless.
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Did you see the posts all day yesterday? There were posts about the other teacher heroes. This post was occasioned by the appearance of an interview with Ms. Hochsprung’s family.
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sjw: Honoring Dawn Hochsprung in no way diminishes the hero teachers, the custodian who risked his life warning the others, the school clerk and many others who played a role in saving lives. Diane has really done a good job of honorting all the heroes.
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Lashing out at inappropriate targets is a possible indication of being traumatized. We’re all angry and feeling helpless, but taking it out on Diane, who has done and is doing her best to confront and fight a lot of what ails the country, isn’t going to help.
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Rude and uncouth. Angry too.
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Diane,
This student, Dylan, died in the arms of his aide. I just can’t stop crying:
http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Dylan-Hockley-died-in-Anne-Marie-Murphy-s-arms-4122828.php
The parents also praise Dawn and the school psychologist.
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Heart wrenching. I hope people keep telling these stories so the world knows what happened here. The politicians need to hear these stories so they actually make an attempt to make it more difficult for killers to commit mass murder. When I read these stories I get really angry. It is all so senseless.
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And one would assume this would make it much more difficult to bash teachers, but I suppose that will begin again soon and led by the Rheeject. Did you read about her statement on the issue…never did she mention the dead teachers and she refers to the children as assets…she is despicable.
See here:
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2012/12/what-has-studentsfirst-ever-done-to.html?m=1
Leave a comment here and read what others have to say about the SF self promoting “condolence” message here:
http://www.facebook.com/StudentsFirstHQ?ref=ts&fref=ts
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She was a remarkable woman. I hope the deaths of these poor children and their teachers brings about the change we so desperately need in this country.
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Dear America,
It feels strange to hear your voice praising teachers for their selflessness, dedication, and love for their students. We’re listening to what you’re saying, but we must admit that we are listening with tilted head and quizzical eye. Why? Because we’ve become accustomed to hearing a very different voice from you.
For the past few years, you’ve been certain that most of society’s problems stem from our schools, more specifically the teachers in those schools. We are lazy and useless, we are only in it for the money, we only teach for the vacation time, we don’t possess the intelligence to teach anyone much of anything, our demands for a respectable wage are selfish, we don’t teach students respect, we are leaches sucking the blood from State coffers, we don’t even work a full day like everyone else, and the most hurtful one of all – we don’t care about our students. Concerned citizens have even documented these ills in grossly successful movies that take the worst of us and use it to convince the public that teachers are deserving of nothing but disdain.
Yet, in one weekend, with one horrific tragedy, your voice has changed. The general indictment that has been assigned to us has seemingly been lifted. All of the sudden, America is looking to us with respect, admiration, trust, and something that looks a bit like… awe. It’s puzzling, really. We are the same people we were last Friday morning, doing the same job we’ve diligently done since choosing our career.
Of course, we do realize what has happened. Something horrific occurred last Friday, and as a result, America saw the uncensored soul that resides in the vast majority of teachers. There were no special interest groups telling you what teachers are really like, no businessmen or women proffering data-driven solutions that will fix every instructional problem, no politicians pontificating about the grading of teachers based on the value they add to students. No, what you saw was the real thing, teachers who love America’s children so much that they dedicate their all to their welfare.
No, for most of us our all does not include a sacrificial death, but it does include a sacrificial life. It means working a full day at school then continuing that work at home well into the evening as we grade papers and prepare materials that will lead to authentic learning in the classroom. That’s our surface work. At a deeper level, however, we also do the following:
•notice our students’ hurts as well as joys so we can be sure to validate them with our comments and actions
•communicate with our students in a manner that conveys regard for them, even if regard isn’t shared for us
•advocate for services that will improve the likelihood of students’ success
•volunteer for extra-curricular activities so children will know we care about their whole life, not just what they do in the classroom
•coordinate numerous fund raisers in order to attain the resources needed to teach students
•spend our own money where fundraisers fall short
In truth, our souls are just about as self-sacrificial as souls come, and it is this part of us that you witnessed last Friday in Rachel Davino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, and Victoria Soto. Yes, they paid the ultimate price, but we want you to understand that what they did on Friday was a natural outpouring of what they were already practicing: a dedication of their lives to your children. It is generally true that if one is going to die for another, he or she is first willing to live for that person. These women did just that.
It is inevitable that days will grow between last Friday and the present, and thoughts will turn to memory. However, we pray that you will not forget this glimpse into the souls of teachers this tragedy afforded us. Please do not return to lumping us together into a rejection bin after seeing a few examples of teachers who do not belong in our ranks. Realize that you will find no greater advocate for America’s students than in us. Appreciate our efforts, and in so doing, create an atmosphere of respect for what we do. In short, simply treat us with the dignity that you’re displaying today. We might find that many answers lie in that action alone.
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Wow. That was amazing, Lisa. Thank you for that eloquent statement–it says it all.
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I have been a fan of the Montgomery County, Md. schools ever since I first read the Michael Winerip article about their evaluation system. I am so happy that Dawn felt the same way. She was a true educator. Again I wish administrators around the country would honor her by following ideas. She did not believe one high-stakes test was a way to judge a teacher or student. Her legacy was one of common sense, not common core.
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