Won’t You Be My Student?

Have you seen Won’t You Be My Neighbor yet? So many wonderful quotes on education and children spoken by “America’s Teacher.” Before your new students enter the room you’ve worked so hard to prepare for them, we suggest preparing your spirit by revisiting the learning community of Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood.

Until then, here are a few special quotes, along with an interview of Fred Rogers and the official movie trailer:

“As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has – or ever will have – something inside that is unique to all time.” 

“It’s not the honors and the prizes and the fancy outsides of life which ultimately nourish our souls. It’s the knowing that we can be trusted, that we never have to fear the truth, that the bedrock of our very being is good stuff. That’s what makes growing humanity the most potentially glorious enterprise on earth.”

“I hope you’re proud of yourself for the times you’ve said ‘yes,’ when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to somebody else.” 

“Please think of the children first. If you ever have anything to do with their entertainment, their food, their toys, their custody, their childcare, their health care, their education – listen to the children, learn about them, learn from them. Think of the children first.”

FFT Fellows are these kind of teachers, the ones who love their calling as a teacher and those they teach. You can learn more about these passionate professionals on our blog posts or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds.

If you are interested in designing your own summer fellowship to impact your students, classroom and school community, watch for our 2019 grant application, which goes live on October 1.